A Brief Statement about My Work

“Artists who routinely appropriate are not always attempting to profit from the marketability of their chosen subjects. They are simply using elements, fragments or pieces of someone else’s artifact in the creation of a new one… for artistic reasons.” -- Lyons/Negativland [1]

The act of discovery is what motivates me most to create. So, if I could completely sum up my work with words I probably wouldn’t be interested in doing it anymore. However, there are some definable concepts appearing in what I’ve created so far which I often feel challenged to comment on.

The environment, apocalyptic fancies, the tides of energy and economics, these issues seem to work their way into my work as much as any other symbolic, narrative art of today. But, up until now the predominant theme that I like to discuss stems entirely from the all-American habit known as cultural appropriation – because much of the imagery I use in my paintings is taken from a heritage which I share no genetic or geographical ties to.

We Americans have long been praised (and harshly criticized) for our rather gratis relationship with culture. Culture in America is still something inherited, but having long since been commoditized, it is also something acquired. Furthermore, the opportunity for the personal acquisition of culture has greatly increased throughout our history.

In my opinion this opportunity is invaluable. However, that doesn’t mean it’s foolproof and free from hazard or responsibility. Balancing the culture we are born into with those available in the marketplace is tricky. Harrods/Cavalli’s goddess panties and Fuct/Brunetti’s Kali skateboard deck are excellent cases-in-point.[2][3] But, if approached with reverence and adoration (as opposed to limited, commercial gain) cultural appropriation is a balancing act which I believe can generate the best fruit mankind is capable of producing. It is this very fruit that I strive to make bountiful in my work.

South Asian imagery and the motifs of the American Regionalists find their way into my art because they are like second nature to me. As deep matriarchal and patriarchal symbols, I would not feel complete without being free to express a psyche which is saturated in the magnificence of both these genres. So, the fact that I live in a society which affords me the right to harmonize these two schools in my art is something I try my best to take advantage of.

It is with these sentiments in mind that I find great pride and gratitude in being American. It is a gratitude which outshines any of the negative and mean-spirited actions which stain our nation’s cultural history. It is a pride which generates a tremendous feeling of promise for our nation’s cultural future. And, if I can encapsulate these feelings in my paintings, while continuing down the wondrous path of discovery, then I will have achieved much of what I ever set out to do.


[1] “The Ethics of Cultural Appropriation,” Young/Brunk, Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, page: 174.
[2] “Harrods Apology over Hindu Bikinis,” Rajesh Priyadarshi, BBC News, Wed. 6-9-2004.
[3] “Board Surf/Skate/Snow Graphics,” Burgoyne/Leslie, Watson Guptill, 1997, page: 57.