ABSTRACT
My work begins with a word. I use my handwriting, and the edge of the line as the foundation for each painting. From there I add colours and pattern that people might associate with the chosen word.
Jaws
2024, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 24 inch
This artwork was inspired by the “JAWS” movie poster. Painted to resemble the mouth of a shark.
Dream
🔴 2023, Mixed Media, 24 x 24 inch
This artwork was inspired by a dream. The white, blue, and black areas represent depth. How deeply do you dream? The areas of colour, yellow and pink, remind me of explosions. As I daydream, the explosions represent the excitement of what might be.
Hi
🔴 2023, Mixed Media, 8 x 8 inch
Can you see the face? This artwork is, in a way, my response to the COVID lockdowns. It’s a celebration of people, and being able to say “HI” face to face once again.
Poo
2023, Mixed Media, 8 x 8 inch
Sometimes I make myself laugh. This artwork was inspired by the “poo emoji”. The yellow background is reminder of the many faces with all their unique emotions.
At
2023, Mixed Media, 8 x 8 inch
Where you at? My inspiration for this painting was the Apple/ Google Maps app. Painted to look like a landscape from overhead, with a small red triangle to indicate location.
War
2023, Mixed Media, 24 x 24 inch
This painting is a response to the many scary things happening across the world. The brown and red are representations of the dirt and blood that cover the landscape. There is a focus on explosions. And in the distance, headstones fill the hillside.
Love
🔴 2023, Mixed Media, 24 x 24 inch
All you need is love. Do do, da da da.
Dot
2023, Mixed Media, 16 inch diameter
A dot is something intentional. The idea of that little red dot beside a sold painting, or maybe it’s a small dot of ink used to define a line of text. Through my use of crisp line work, and bold empty space, I mean to emphasize the boundaries in which a dot must operate.
Spot
2023, Mixed Media, 16 inch diameter
A spot has no boundaries, and does not stay within the lines. When creating this artwork I was inspired by the spots on a Dalmatian, some blood spots, and a grass stain.
Country Living
🔴 2023, Mixed Media, 36 x 48 inch
Commissioned
Country living is the embodiment of living in harmony with the nature around one’s self. The work was inspired by the gardens and lush vegetation found around a well loved family home. The layering of shapes and paint is indicative of the layering of leaves and flowers in the garden. But it’s more than just the garden. It’s the layering of history, love and life, living at the family home.
I was inspired by paintings like: Monet’s “Water Lilies”, Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers”, and Kehinde Wiley “Obama”. This imagery of flowers really connected with me on this piece. To me flowers are symbolic of love, life and happiness. I tried to include as many flowers as possible within “Country Living”. With a total of 32 flowers.
Warp
2023, Mixed Media, 40 x 40 inch
When I first purchased this canvas I noticed that it had warped and lost it’s shape. This influenced the whole piece. The twisting and bending of the shapes found within this painting are representations of something being twisted, warped and bent out of shape. The colours were chosen to mimic those found in the “Warp speed” graphic in Star Trek The Motion Picture. Furthermore the white and black areas are representations of stars and space streaming past as the starship jumps to Warp.
Dusk
2023, Mixed Media, 30 x 22 inch
Painted using colours that are present during the last minutes of the day. An overall tone of blue, with jolts of orange and yellow, as night settles in. The painting is meant to feel as though it is descending, progressing downwards in some way. Just like the sunset at dusk.
Dawn
2023, Mixed Media, 30 x 22 inch
Painted using the colours that are present at the first crack of dawn. Light pinks and yellows found in the open air, and darker greens hiding in the shadow. The painting is meant to feel as though it is elevating, progressing upwards in some way. Just like the sunrise at dawn.
Earth
2023, Mixed Media, 35 inch diameter
Created using blues and greens to represent the planet Earth. The white areas are representations of cloud cover. Furthermore, white is the only colour which covers the line work in this painting, like a cloud would cover the landscape from above. Because the canvas is round I wanted the background to be a field of blue. Blue representing the ocean. I like the idea that my painting reminds me of those images of a “Flat Earth”.
Yes
2023, Mixed Media, 24 x 24 inch
Painted using colours that I associate with the feelings I get after being told YES. Yellow and Orange represent the excitement, “they said yes!”. Pink to represent a sense of relief or joy. Green representing something new, what might come from this conformation? Dark Purple, because there is always a hidden catch.
No
🔴 2023, Mixed Media, 24 x 24 inch
Painted using colours that represent the emotions I feel after being told NO. Red like a stop sign. Blue because I might feel sad or embarrassed. Black and White because there is no grey area after being told NO. Yellow because there is always a silver lining.
Toronto, Canada
🔴 2023, Mixed Media, 30 x 24 inch
This painting is supposed to be a little chaotic, just like the city. When looking at this painting I imagine that I’m looking down on Toronto from a birds-eye-view. The different shapes, grey or colourful, represent the buildings. Each line showing a unique path or route around the city. On top is a bight blue for Lake Ontario, and below is a muddy orange for what used to be the Green Belt.
The Bird
2022, Mixed Media, 24 x 24 inch
This painting is two paintings in one. When hung in a certain direction the image resembles a tropical bird. When hung in the opposite direction the image shows a somewhat impolite hand gesture. This painting captures my experience as an artist thus far. If only I were given the opportunity I could soar like a bird, rather than be given “the bird” in rejection.
Palm Beach
🔴 2022, Mixed Media, 30 x 40 inch
Commissioned
The artwork is a celebration of place and people. While preparing for this painting I was influenced by a birds-eye-view of a beach. With a tide coming in from the right, and perhaps a palm tree on the left. The colour palate, that was chosen to mimic that of a painting by Jack Bush (untitled, 1972), helps to encourage a bright and beach-like atmosphere.
Compromise
2021, Mixed Media, 30 x 22 inch
People today are extremely polarized, and like oil on water, there is no mixing. This painting plays with that idea. There is a strong contrast between the colours found in the centre, compared with the dark greys and black around the edge. Furthermore, the concept of opposites not mixing with one another, is represented by the ring of white space around the centre.
Insurrection
2021, Mixed Media, 27 x 21 inch
The idea for this painting came to me as I watched the US capital riot on January 6th 2021. It was a horrible and violent event. I tried to capture that, and so much more, in this painting. The canvas is a ratty rectangular piece of plywood. I attacked the surface scratching and jabbing at it. Furthermore, the base word “insurrection” has been misspelled and is written in sharpie… an homage to stupidity.
Sad
2021, Mixed Media, 16 x 20 inch
Do I really need to explain… that’s just sad.
Run Hide
🔴 2021, Mixed Media, 20 x 16 inch
This painting started as a landscape, which depicted a field of grass on fire. Through adding the “run hide” element of abstraction on top, I have defined this work as a commentary on climate change.
Disappointed
2020, Mixed Media, 37 x 25 inch
I’ll be the first to admit that this isn’t the best looking painting, but it’s not supposed to be. This piece is an exploration of disappointment and what disappointment might mean within the realm of artwork. This painting was stepped on, rained on, folded, ripped, spilt on, and neglected. I was hoping it would turn out differently. To be honest, it’s a total disappointment.
Hope and Faith
🔴 2020, Mixed Media, 30 x 40 inch
I completed this painting as I watched the results come in for the 2020 US election. Inspired by the “big map” on CNN, I wanted the lines to look like those of electoral districts. I chose colours that represented the two US political parties. The blues became more of a deep purple and the reds more diluted into pink, its somewhat symbolic of how the votes were cast.
OCAD University BFA Graduate 2020
🖌️🖌️🖌️
OCAD University BFA Graduate 2020 🖌️🖌️🖌️
Joy
🔴 2020, Mixed Media, 30 x 22 inch
When I began this painting I thought about the things that brought me joy and what colours I might associate with them. Yellow for example, is representative of the sun and the warm feeling of the light on a summers day. Ironically “Joy” was painted just as Toronto went into its first COVID lockdown. The colourful part of this artwork lays on top of a black field. This black field is my way of indicating the idea of joy within the context of our current moment in pandemic life.
Climate Change
🔴 2020, Mixed Media, 30 x 22 inch
Humanity as the cause of climate change was my influence for this artwork. The soft green and blue colours that I used in this painting are symbolic of the earth and naturally occurring colours we might find in the environment. The pattern created looks almost like a birds-eye-view of a farmers field. Overlaying are large areas of red and brown oil paint. I associate these areas as a representation of the devastation that humanity has inflicted upon the environment.
Peanuts
🔴 2020, Mixed Media, 30 x 22 inch
My childhood had a great influence over this painting. It’s title is a direct indication my own peanut allergy which was huge at swaying what I would, or would not do when I was a kid. From there the Charlie Brown “Peanuts” cartoon had a lot of influence on what colours I included in this artwork. It didn’t hurt that my favourite colour is yellow.
Redstone
🔴 2019, Mixed Media, 4 x 5 feet
In reality “Redstone” is an island. Because of this fact I decided to make the negative space in this painting blue, a symbolic representation of the water surrounding an island. The strip of negative space near the bottom of the painting, coupled with the swooping motion of line work almost creates the image of two people in a canoe. Canoeing is an activity I associate strongly with Redstone island.
Sit Stay
🔴 2019, Mixed Media, 30 x 22 inch
The inspiration for this artwork was my two new Cocker Spaniel puppies. This was not my first time raising a new dog, however it was my first time raising two! The line work and application of paint in this artwork is chaotic for a reason. This artwork is practically a window into what my life was at the time, with everything up in the air, everything a mess. You might notice I have dripped and dribbled paint onto the canvas. No need to explain my inspiration there!
Algonquin
2019, Mixed Media, 16x 20 inch
The inspiration for this painting was Algonquin Provincial Park. The colours that I included were colours that I saw when spending time in the park over the summer months. I remember the park as very lush and overgrown. The water was green and opaque. In my minds eye everything seemed muddy, melded together, and beautiful in its own natural way.
Killarney
2019, Mixed Media, 16 x 20 inch
The inspiration for this painting was Killarney Provincial Park. The colours that I included were colours that I saw when spending time in the park over the summer months. I remember that when the light hit the stone it was almost as white as chalk, and the water was the deepest blue I have ever seen.
Rip Ram
🔴 2019, Mixed Media, 24 x 18 inch
“Rip Ram” is the call or chant for the summer camp that I attended as a boy. The colours in this painting; red, blue, green and orange, are all inspired from the camps colours.
Chipmunk Crossing
🔴 2019, Mixed Media, 24 x 18 inch
I completed this painting in memory of my grandmother Nancy. She used to have a little sign in her garden that read “chipmunk crossing”. I have very fond memories of her whenever I look at that sign. She enjoyed pinks, purples and soft pastel colours.
Zachary Scott Warne
🔴 2019, Mixed Media, 24 x 18 inch
This painting is all about me. The colours are a collection of my favourite; yellows, blues, and orange. I see this artwork as somewhat of a self portrait.