As an active printmaker for over ten years, my current paintings reflect the practice (in printmaking) of layering, obliterating and gradually focusing/refining a final image. Shooting hundreds of isolated compositions on walks around town these images inform, and often-times unravel the images that spring out of the canvases as I add to and peel away layers of paint. While my recent works are decidedly less descriptive, a series of works from a few years ago mirror Monet’s water lily compositions. In these studies, Giverny was the vegetation surrounding Lincoln Park’s north lagoon with its overhanging trees that cast light and shadow on the mirror-like waters. Born and raised in Diego Rivera’s hometown of Guanajuato until age five and grew up in Chicago’s Little Village, my work has always reflected a penchant for color and contrast.
