USA Projects

I am seeking funds in the amount of  nine thousand, four hundred and fifty dollars for my project, TABLE OF CONTENTS, which is the working title of a limited-edition book that will catalog my recent sculptures while paying homage to the geology textbooks that inspire my work. I see this book as much more than a catalog; it is an extension of my art, and like my sculptural paintings, it will defy categorization.  I want to design a unique kind of textbook that is a work of art in and of itself.

My sculptural paintings are a play on plate tectonics. To make them, I literally push the paint off the panel, like it’s some sort of landmass, and then shape and refine the fragments, scrambling up the parts and re-presenting them as a new conglomeration. Through this process, I create a parallel natural history while considering human and geologic time.

Humans living in the 21st Century are equally privileged and cursed by the ability to witness the awesome power of nature in action and reaction all over the world. My work is based on the idea that nature is messy and unpredictable, and it always has its way. In recent years, fueled by destructive natural and cultural events, people now take my work in with more gravity. The flow and force of destruction and regeneration is no longer viewed in the abstract when humans realize that they are part of it. I believe this book can help people unite around these ideas, blending visual art, science, and critical thinking in a way that awakens our instincts and understanding. Our various imagined boundaries are totally meaningless in the eye of a hurricane. I feel very passionately that the time for this book is now.

Intimate in scale, TABLE OF CONTENTS will be organized around a few distinct sections:

  Introduction by the artist |  Essay by a geologist | Essay by a contemporary art  writer

A formal artist catalog, featuring a body of 15-20 sculptural paintings from the past two years

An inside look at my creative process, including notes and step-by-step sketches of a piece from start to completion

If I am able to reach my ultimate fundraising goal of $11,450, I will be able to include a special fold-out image; a page that expands, like a roadmap, to be larger than the book. I love the idea of this feature exploding out of the book, making it sculptural.

Part of my distribution campaign will be to donate copies of the book for disaster relief efforts around the world, such as the recent tsunami in Japan, the earthquake in Haiti, or the failure of the levees in New Orleans.  I receive constant requests for donations for these events.

 I have been working with Open Studios Press on this project.  Best known as the publisher of New American Paintings, OSP has a proven track record working with museums, galleries and artists to produce beautiful catalogs, and they have the publishing and distribution expertise to help guide my imagination in a practical way.