Paintings and Paper Illustrations --- Recently I have chosen the cactus to inspire and inform my artworks. Cactuses come in many varieties and are a contrast in form and function. Often round and plump to look at, they lie to our sense of sight. You want to touch them but be careful, those needles and spines are deadly and will prick your little finger. They are meant to protect themselves from natures dangers; the cactus is cruel too. You are in danger if you get too close. They will stab you. It is this juxtaposition that I find compelling and choose to create with them. 

My artwork is charged with this contrast, the tension between our soft flesh, our inherent cruelty to the succulent (and the environment in general) and its' inherent cruelty toward us (as metaphor for a cruel society and cruel people).

I paint and draw cactus landscapes because they offer a wide range of formal qualities in the arts and offer a superb palette for exploration and play. This combined with my approach toward maximalism and I am unsure how I can ever stop.

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