Un-earthing is a scroll drawing that I made to extend on to the floor. The landscape-like image in the center of this drawing is based on a photograph from a nickel mine in New Caledonia in the South Pacific. I anchored the bottom of the drawing with two pieces of hand-stained maple where I placed 4 small plaster and sand sculptures.

This is a detail from the sculptural forms at the bottom of "Un-earthing." I made these sculptures at the ocean by digging into the sand to create a mold for the plaster. The greenish and red strips shows the hand-stained maple I made to anchor the drawing.

This is an excerpt from the writing in this piece:

“...sometimes a hard edge is important/necessary. a specific delineation but it can’t be all hard edges. it doesn’t work that way. things spill over; get messy. clarity shifts, things blur………
this is what I know/have known for so long – I have a hard time walking away from something. I will try to make it work beyond the point where any of it makes sense. There are other people who may walk away too easily not pausing for a moment to see if there is something worthwhile that deserves time and attention – we could be talking about a drawing or a relationship…”

I began this drawing after the bombing began in Ukraine. The image in the center is based on a satellite drone image showing one of the first bombed areas in the northeast suburbs of Kharkiv. There are small stone, steel, wood and brass objects hanging on the opposite side of this drawing as counterweights. (Shown in next image.)

This is a detail of the found objects that are viewable on the backside of the drawing seen in the previous image. They are hung as counterweights. I installed this piece about 2 feet from the wall at a recent exhibition. It was hung in a way that this side was not obvious from the front but it could be discovered if one looked behind the scroll.

I often begin my drawings with extemporaneous writing, sitting on top of the paper, writing without any preconceived idea.
Here is an example from this piece:

“I wanted something with my hands smudging/ feeling out the space... ...compressed charcoal in water...to make a mark I had to deal with, one I couldn’t easily erase...A mark or a shape that couldn’t be fudged.......
grey is what’s important. Define grey….grey = nuance/neither black nor white something that is at neither extreme. that holds the possibility of contradiction that contains the extremes of black and white in its very make-up.......
black and white are binary. Grey is non-binary = a neutral color/ achromatic color (a color without color – when made with black and white) but grey can be made up of other colors. it can move towards blue or green or pink. it can appear to change based on what is around it...”

This is a detail from the sculptural element that I made to sit in front of the scroll drawing shown in the previous image.

This piece has 3 components: a drawing of water, waves rocks and sky; 4 small sculptures made with plaster and sand that sit on the part of the drawing that extends on to the floor; and extemporaneous text that I wrote directly in the drawing as I worked.

This is a detail from the center of the drawing.

This is a detail of the sculptures on that sit in the section of the drawing that extends out on to the floor.

I made this drawing in the second half of 2020 into 2021. My writing reflects the political climate, protests, and natural disasters during this time alongside personal reflections on loss and distraction that I observed as I worked. I included a platform at the base of the drawing with a Yahrzeit candle, which is used in the Jewish religion to honor loved ones who have died, to memorialize those lost at the hands of police and to the pandemic.

This is a detail of the text section in the middle of the previous image.

This is a detail from the abraded area within the orange taped-off space in the center left section of Flashpoint.

This is a 2-sided drawing that I made to fit between the ceiling and the floor in the Anne Reid Gallery. The first time I saw the gallery I was struck by the expanse of green you could see out the wall of windows in the rear of the gallery. Green is a color I don’t often use but I decided it would be the dominant element of this site-specific work. I was also thinking about how what is outside affects what is inside and vice versa.

This is a detail of the green rectangular space in the previous image. A small section of the green from outside, that had influenced me, is visible on the left side of the drawing.

This is a detail from the center section of the drawing.

The following image shows a detail from this work.

This is a detail from the upper center portion of the previous image.

The text in this drawing is about obligation, expectation, and the pacing and patterns in Igor Levit’s performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, as they relate to changing patterns of tension and contemplation that occur over time.

Sundowning (also known as a sundown syndrome) = a neurological phenomenon associated with increased confusion and restlessness in patients with dementia. It occurs in the late afternoon/early evening. Symptoms include increased agitation; a person may become more upset/anxious/confused/disoriented/suspicious

This is a detail from a drawing that lies on the floor. This detail shows an example of how I introduce small sculptural objects into my drawings. The full drawing is anchored to the floor with hand-stained wood sections on the top and bottom of the scroll.

This work lies on the floor with wood sections on the top and bottom of the scroll and 2 handmade glass globes sitting in the blue section toward the top of the drawing. (Shown on the left side.) The right side shows a detail of the glass globes in the blue-black field.

This drawing was made after a protracted illness, so much of the text is referencing a reorganizing of priorities. The next image shows a detail from this piece.

This drawing (shown in full on the left side) was started in 2016 and was influenced by disturbing events beginning with the attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando and continuing through the presidential election, its aftermath and the ongoing fallout that continues to affect how people navigate the dividing lines that run through so many layers of our culture. It is one of the darker drawings I have made with much of the work abraded and buried in graphite. A detail of the center section is shown on the right side.