a form of subversion. diverting diversion.

I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I GO TO SCHOOL
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I AM BLACK
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I SMOKE SO MUCH WEED
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I THINK ABOUT HOW LONG IT MIGHT TAKE TO BECOME FAMOUS
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I AM HORNY
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I GET EXCITED BY CHANGE
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I AM A FEMINIST
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE IT TOOK ME TOO LONG TO GET UP THIS MORNING
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I HAVE A BLOG
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I HAVE SELF DOUBT
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I AM MAKING A LIST ABOUT WHY I AM AN ARTIST
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE THIS IS ART
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE MY MOTHER HAD SIX CHILDREN
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I NEVER KNEW MY FATHER
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE IT IS ABOUT TIME
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I SOMETIMES DOUBT THE NATURE OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I HAVE NO DOUBT IN THE NATURE OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I VOTED FOR OBAMA
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I LISTEN TO INDIE MUSIC
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I LOVE BEER
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE MY MOTHER IS GAY
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I ENGAGE WITH THE WORLD
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I MAKE ART
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I MAKE LISTS
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I WALK
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I LIVE
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE TAKE THE TRAIN
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE THIS IS A PICTRE
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I KNOW HISTORY
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I READ THEORY
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I HAVE A FACEBOOK
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I LOVE COFFEE
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I WANT YOU TO LIKE ME
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I CAN THINK OF INFINITE REASONS TO JUSTIFY MY ART
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I HAVE STUDENT LOAN DEBT
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I LIKE VINTAGE
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I AM CHEAP
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I ENJOY REPETITION
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I PLAY AN INSTRUMENT
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I AM A SLACKER
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I COULDN’T BE ANY OTHER THING
I AM AN ARTIST BECAUSE I WAS BORN
I WAS AN ARTIST BECAUSE  THIS WAS SPONTANEOUS

here's an example of how i use elements of the urban landscape in my own work.

what much of my work centers on is this sort of phenomenon. the kind of natural happening of marks being made, "nature" performing its will on the objects we create. i'm interested in the kind of drawing that occurs on a surface, independent of the act of human creation. i take these photos to my studio practice and use them as source material and inspiration for my paintings and drawings.

made these drawings last year. Thinking of: entropy, chicago, making marks, scale, process, metaphor, materiality

one of the only portraits I have ever painted. This guy's name was Larry, and I saw him naked a few times. He's a really nice, quiet model who made the Mid-Missouri circuit like no other. Anyway, I thought I'd start out with a post of something of which I currently do little. Why? I don't really know. But I still like the painting. Being mostly an abstract painter, looking at this work always brings me to that weird debate that's ongoing in our current post (post?) modern art world that is (still) working out what a painting is or should be. I feel this tension between abstraction and representation very strongly at SAIC, where painting is still important, despite trends in "anti-art" art and intentionally "crappy", "faux naive" art. At times, it feels we make up too many excuses just to paint a picture. It's way too easy to over analyze every stroke, every "move" in some attempt to make the "right" painting. Sometimes, a painting is just a painting. Making Larry's portrait, I think I felt what if must be like to make a picture for the sake of making a picture, a feeling that can be hard to come by in art school, ironically. I guess thats why I like it still.