| Artist Statement |
 Since the early 1970s, my work has involved the creation of prints, drawings, mix-medias, and collages conceptually based on the artistic inspiration of Africa, the civil rights movement and of personal visions. In 1992, I placed importance on craftsmanship, experimented with form, explored the surreal, and began creating dynamic compositions by silk-screening large sheets of color and then invented images as I cut and assembled. I am delving into the essence of an in improvisational style that is spiritually alive, abstract in form and gives a new meaning to expression. The challenge here is to produce something significantly different from anything that I had done before by creating bold and colorful abstract silkscreen collages that suggest natural forms and initiates a passage from nature to abstraction.“You and I,” and “Flowering Tree” are good representatives of the abstract silkscreen collages.
These collages represent one of the latest evolutions of a collage technique I learned years ago as a student at Florida A & M University. They are bold and colorful, and are derived from remembered experiences of growing up in rural Central Florida, the Florida’s Gulf Coast, and the senses of life over the past 60 years. In them life has burst its bounds, joy is taken in the icon of florescence, and color is used for its power over mood and space.
In addition to the current work in abstract collages, I am working on a new series of mix-media pieces on paper in limited editions. They involve the making of small or large collages as Marquette’s that are transposed into large mix-media pieces on paper, digitizing the images and combining them with drawing and watercolor. I use the digital image for its texture and resolution, and for it modern artistic diction. I am also relying on my skills as a draftsman to carry the message. |