STATEMENT
I find pleasure in works that harbor a certain amount of mystery, complexity, or hidden structures that reward repeated looking & investigation…works that occupy the space between perfection and imperfection, gravity and weightlessness, clarity & ambiguity.
Memory, the unconscious, & experience of moving through our physical & cultural environments form the building blocks of my practice. Images and objects can trigger reverberations that recall memories from years ago or fresh episodes from the past week. Remembrances of growing up in Singapore–Taoist burnt offerings & torrential tropical storms–often well up while working in the studio.
In a process that is part discovery and part invention, hard-lined geometry and improvisational brushwork are applied in layers, modifying and obscuring earlier marks. Chance, doubt, and curiosity are interwoven into the work. Each gesture implies new trajectories that propel the work forward. Usually, a painting would sit for days before the next move can be intuited. This process continues until the work achieves an internal logic and a level of density that can stand up to repeated and prolonged viewing.
I find that works can accrue structure and meaning only through the application of time and full measures of attention. Very often, the most satisfying pieces are those that end up in entirely unexpected places. A big allure of painting and making is finding places that I do not already know.