Oil / Watercolor Painting

My current oil and watercolor work consists of patterned imagery. I build up my subject matter by laying decorative designs [drawn from materials and patterns found in the decorative arts] over rhythmic and gestural patterns. The work reflects my interest in Islamic art, the decorative arts, and the search for the “ideal beauty” in the age of surplus information.

I develop these pieces by accumulating tens of layers. Substrates for the oil pieces are rigid surfaces, usually wooden panels, coated with dry gesso, which yields a smooth, luminous surface. Veils of paint are layered on top in an obsessive and ritualistic process. The process interweaves materials and methods generating an ethereal and atmospheric translucency.