Artist Statement

"The individual, man as a man, man as a brain, if you like, interests me more than what he makes, because I've noticed that most artists only repeat themselves." - Marcel Duchamp

Art, in its original form, was the first language. It was a turning point for our entire civilization. Our first history. The purpose of art today has become more nebulous, but its original form still exists underneath. I believe the evolution of art mirrors that of mankind; it has become a manifestation of emotional consciousness as well as acting as a decadent form of entertainment. However, art still has the capacity to teach people, to inform people of what being human is. My art has gone through several transitions as I have struggled to identify my own wants, but my current work has become a critique of the state of mankind along with our relationship to the world. Man has no reciprocal in nature and that is perhaps why we feel so superior and separate.
This is an ongoing conversation that has followed me throughout my life. I was born in Katonah, New York but I truly grew up in Brussels, Belgium. When I was seven years old my family moved to Brussels and we lived there for six years. Living there allowed me to experience the different cultures of the world. When I returned to the United States it was very strange. I saw this land with full exposure through unbiased eyes.
From my research as an artist I have found that art has deviated from its original purpose. Art was meant to be conceptual and everlasting. Instead people became fascinated with the sensuous and temperamental pre-modernist movement (abstract expressionism). As a result of this deviation, art has been starved for purpose for the last 20 years. Art has become so many things from what is important, and what is important is that it continues to inspire new thought. Art from its beginning in the Altamira caves was meant to communicate how we exist and how we can evolve. It is responsible for so much intellectual growth but in todays world because of art like abstract expressionism it has become a form of entertainment, both shallow and mortal. The art world will continue its degradation until there is a rebirth or its very foundation is tested. We live in a sad time for art because it has no push no "game" no "idea" and as our critics realize this soon hopefully the art collectors will as well and from this shall emerge something new that will revitalize arts purpose.