AV

I am Toronto based painter living and working in the city’s west end. Using ink, acrylic, resin, and most recently glass, my work explores the aesthetic world that lies at the intersection of the accidental and the intentional.

Spills, splatters, and strokes can often yield equally as compelling and pleasing outcomes as purposeful mark making. A realization that has hounded me in the studio. If my drop sheet - catching all the cast off from several paintings - is full of landscapes and delightful colour combinations, where does that leave the relationship between skill and chance, in art and in life?

Accidental has always been an element of my work. When working with resin and coping with the size and majesty of the universe, it was I, and the invisible hand of chemistry that came together to create nebula like pieces. Only half the work was intentional, the other half left to chemical reactions between inks, resin, and paints in my work.

My botanical work on paper work is much lighter in spirit, but still subject to a similar relationship between my skill and the unpredictable nature of ink, water, and certain solvents. The foundation of each piece is somewhat out of my control, colours aside. The way the elements evaporate at different rates yield patterns and marks that I can’t foresee. I use them as a base to build upon, as guides to the composition of the work, each subsequent layer more intentional than the last, until I find myself only adding the finest details by brush.

In The Cups Are Still Better, I pour and layer inks and acrylic on glass in an effort to recreate the effortless beauty of the clear cups I use to mix my paint - and the cups are still better. I’ve asked my self a hundred times How do the paint splatters and strokes I make just to mix a colour turn out better than what I do on purpose? And I think there is something inherently human about that sentiment. That sometimes the chaos and indifference of the universe produces better outcomes than we do with effort. And that is what my work is really all about.

There is so much to do and see and feel in our lives and I am honoured that you’re here looking at my art and reading my words. Thank you for your time.