These still life paintings explore relationships and expectations. Through found objects, dolls and other toys, notions of purpose, simulation and sensibility are portrayed with curiosity, mystery and humor. My use of dolls specifically, explores the nature of surface and expectation. Dolls are created as generic representations of babies and used as toys. Yet their idiosyncratic bodies and faces exude a power and energy, that reminds me of Native American katsina dolls of the southwest. In assembling a still life, I allow my present life and my past to surface. I spend time looking through shelves of objects that I have collected over time. As if in a meditative state, I find situations or themes emerge in my minds eye focusing my attention, which directs my selection of objects. I work with dolls that resonate in unexpected ways and with other objects that are frequently actual vessels (ie. nests, tea pots, mugs). As the scene comes into being, I think about emotions, memories, my present moment and unspecified potential.
Click on the photo to see my “Doll Stills” paintings on Flikr