• When I first discovered the idea of a painting as a window, I wondered what existed beyond the window frame. Did the picture extend in all directions? If so, how far? By cropping a view of something larger, the window suggested an infinite landscape. That landscape has captivated my attention ever since — not because I’m compelled to understand it, but because I cannot.

    In my art practice, engaging with infinity means engaging with my own finiteness. My line can go only so far; my brushstrokes can last only so long before they die. I’m inspired by writing and music – specifically, their beginning-middle-end structure and sequences of moments. I’m also inspired by the writings of Lucretius, who rejects the notion of a center or edge to the cosmos and sees life as a fleeting moment within a boundless continuum of time.

    In my Lucretius series, I make a single line that begins and ends at the edge of the canvas. My challenge has been to integrate the line with the background – figure with ground.

    I’m interested in the metaphysical issues that arise from this challenge. The act of integrating figure and ground feels like art imitating life — the figure corresponding to the human condition of finiteness and the ground to the infinite time and space in which it occurs.