(click on each image to learn more about that painting)
Artist Statement for What Lies Beyond:
This collection represents a merging of my two worlds, as scientist and artist. While earning a PhD in planetary geophysics, I studied water’s role in shaping the ancient Martian surface. Now I use oil paint with brush and palette knife to layer and scrape the planetary landscape onto canvas. I use color schemes that represent the myriad of “eyes” through which we interpret the surfaces: spacecraft cameras and filters, computers and software, scientists stretching color to emphasize compositions, and, of course, artistic liberties for aesthetically pleasing richer, brighter and more varied hues. The layering of paint represents the varied history that formed and altered the rocks. And the use of triptychs is a nod to the process that scientists use of stitching together multiple separate images into one before it is released to the public. The intent is to create landscapes that feel almost familiar, and only upon further inspection do you realize it is not of Earth.
Next, view my Down To Earth Collection of wildlife, landscapes, and still life paintings.