Artist Statement

“First I feel. Then I understand”

For years, I have created intuitively, allowing myself to be guided by a process in which each decision led to the next. Understanding the unconscious nature of my painting has helped me develop my own creative process, without losing the freedom to create without knowing where it will lead.

For me, creating is a personal conversation with the canvas, in which the elements of the painting also interact with one another. It is an ongoing dialogue between colour, form, composition and mark-making. I am interested in how seemingly opposing shapes and colours engage in a dialogue until they find their own balance. We all converse.

Although I begin the conversation, it is always the canvas that has the final word. There comes a moment when, as I look at it, the composition suddenly takes on a different intensity, a kind of flash that emerges from the painting itself. It is difficult to express exactly what I see in that instant, but I know that, in its own way, the painting is telling me: “That’s it.”

But “That’s it” does not mean the conversation is over. It continues with whoever contemplates the painting and begins a dialogue of their own with it. I feel that when someone connects with one of my works, even if we have never met, we share something that goes beyond words.

It is precisely this ability of art to connect people that moves me.