About the artist and showcase:
Over the past few years I have come to realize that what makes me happiest in life is when I’m creating something new. It fascinates and intrigues me that you can have a blank canvas in front of you, or a ball of clay, or silence in the air, in one moment, and short while later have a work of art or a new piece of music, that no one has ever seen or heard before, in front of you. It’s a very simple concept, but it keeps me driven to continue creating things that weren’t there moments ago.
As a relatively new artist (to this medium), it wasn’t until around 4 years ago that I started developing a style of painting that truly felt like it was coming from me and not a preconceived idea of what I thought my art should look like. It was by letting go of my perfectionism and frustration at not being able to paint how I wanted, that allowed me to discover how I actually wanted to paint and express myself. During these first 4 years I’ve been a finalist in an international art competition with said artwork displayed in Tokyo, showed at the Deer Lake Art Gallery, the Cultch Gallery & Received Honourable Mention Award at the 15th Annual Oil & Water Show in Tswassen.
Whether the subject of my art is animals, people or objects I enjoy the challenge of creating something visually interesting and dynamic through use of bright colours, geometric shapes and multi layering techniques. Often containing graphic design elements and themes of nature mixed with modern daily life, I try to give the viewers a little bit of familiarity with enough layers and clues to keep them engaged and discovering new elements the longer they look.
Why is the show titled "Zero x Zero”?
While most of my art work is stylistically similar, the content isn't always consistent. However, every piece does have an "X" or 2 in it somewhere and more often than not circles. So Zero X Zero seemed to be the right name for the show.
How did the “X “come to be a steady theme in your work?
Early on while I was figuring out my "style" I would often paint over portions of a piece that I didn't think worked and keep the parts that did, creating the multi layered look that most of my work has. As a little inside joke with myself I started putting an X over the portion I'd painted over like you'd find on a treasure map. If you scraped off the paint under the X you'd find a whole other unused image. I also liked how a well placed X would dynamically fill a void or make an area more interesting with out taking away from the main focal point of the piece. The logical next step was obviously to add O's to the X's and the theme was born.