First Dirt (2016)
18”x24” oil on canvasDirt is teeming with life. It is full of insects, microorganisms, and fungi that are always living, dying, and decomposing. It is such a complex substance that scientists have failed at synthesizing it for years. Trying to describe its process and importance always leads me back to an amazing dichotomy of soil – its complexity is only matched by its simplicity; it’s dirt. In many ways, thinking about soil reminded me of painting, in that only through abstraction could one begin to describe how fertile soil transforms life. Paint, being earth, was as direct a way I could find to describe the incredible process constantly happening underneath our feet.