Selected Works, 2009
Rebroken Obelisk
Wild Country
Stella at Knife River
Snag in Flight
Reinvestigation of the Sublime
New Badlands
Knife River
My work examines the interconnectivity between Post War American Modernism, simulated nature and the picturesque, and the individual as heroic male artist/entitled rogue outdoorsmen. I am establishing art historical relationships using strategies of appropriation and simulation through paintings, sculptures, and critical texts by artists such as Robert Smithson, Frank Stella, Constantin Brancusi, and Peter Halley. These complex associations build a dialogue around modernist ideals of the individual as superior and heroic still operating in contemporary art practice.
Four ruling themes are explored through various multidisciplinary works across two dimensional, three dimensional, and time based media. American Modernism, Nature, the individual, and industrialization are deconstructed through acts of exploring, building, and destroying within the work. Video pieces for example, in which I perform are intended to create humorous entry points for viewers touching on the futile efforts of an entitled outdoorsman. Whenever possible I have used my upbringing in the landscapes of the Northwest and experiences working as a fabricator to shape these concepts.
Coming to study art after working as an industrial fabricator, and growing up in rural Oregon, I began to see connections between modernism nature, and the individual. The most visible associations came from the industrialization of the United States including timber and agrarian cultures, minimalism, and the individualist society developed after World War Two. All were integral parts of maintaining an appearance superior to collectivist societies during the Cold War. This obsession with appearance created massive illusions in American culture skewing our understanding of nature, modernity, and the individual (artist).
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