My recent work has been inspired by my discovery of Devises Heroiques (1551), featuring iconic images with an attached motto that appeal to me because of their curiously stylized drawing technique and elusive symbolism. Their meanings are cryptic, often bizarre and funny, and don’t quite make sense in our modern world. My current paintings combine contemporary forms that I’ve collected from daily life with unusual pictorial symbols. These combinations are meant to be quirky and playful, sometimes alluding to classic pearls of wisdom or open-ended stories.

The paintings merge a traditional approach toward depicting space with a modern sensibility. Visual interruptions, spatial contradictions, and unexpected contrasts of texture and character alter the way the original elements are understood. The juxtaposition of unrelated components in my work suggests something potentially iconic or at least mildly symbolic.