BFA, Stephen F. Austin State University, 2000

MFA, University of Houston, 2004

COURSES TAUGHT:

Sculpture, Design, Drawing, Printmaking

TEACHING STATEMENT:

Throughout my experience as a student I have observed a wide variety of teaching practices and considered their implications. The application of a directing force, in the form of a professor, to a field of study within the subjective nature of Fine Arts could result in stifling students who wish to explore interests outside those held by the professor. This would be due to the professor's own ego and lack of flexibility. At the other extreme are instructors who allow their desire for artistic freedom to impair their ability to convey much needed advice. My observations reveal that students enjoy the most progress with professors who understand and rigorously critique a wide variety of art-making methods and practices. Art professors must consciously remain within the narrow zone existing between domineering autocrat and apathetic peer. In order to keep myself within this zone I have developed a three-part procedure to addressing student work:

Liberate- Enable students to explore ground that is unfamiliar to both them and myself. Keep my mind open to forms of expression that do not fit within my own aesthetics.

Evaluate- Take an objective, critical assessment of each individual student's strengths, weaknesses, interests and objectives. Discern whether or not the student is accomplishing his or her own goal.

Guide- Help students discover their own voice within the context of contemporary art and the genealogy of art history. Provide advice on methods to discover the best way to communicate their interests.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT:

I approach artmaking as a series of problems that can be solved through the cooperation of analytical and intuitive reasoning. Richard Deacon, whose work demonstrates an astounding degree of creative engineering, provides me an example of technical excellence. Artists such as Tom Friedman and Janine Antoni utilize the ambient meaning of non-traditional materials. By utilizing these contemporary methods within the context of my own understanding I create works that elicit contemplation of religious, social and personal questions that are open for interpretation but present my own views as a probable conclusion. My most recent endeavor consists of a series of three works of differing scale, material and surface subject matter that carry meaning unique to the individual work. Their relation exists in several ways: appropriation of classical figuration, significance to contemporary American culture, autobiographical narrative, and an effort to attain formal virtuosity. Through these means I aim to tell personal/cultural parables that examine ways I have distributed my time, energy and thought as evidence of my priorities. These works are visually seductive, relate an instant understanding, and invite deeper investigation towards the underlying moral.