Artist Statement

In my work I have become the sole proprietor to a town called Grip River. I am the mayor, the city council, the newspaper editor, the architect, the contractor, the construction worker, the personal secretary, etc in the town that I created. I do any and all jobs requiring my attention and thus building a completely egocentric society. The opportunity to run a world and bogging it down with an endless array of tasks, red tape, and paperwork makes my work futile in nature.

I use digital media, video, installation, performance, and the Internet to document as well as blur the lines between fiction and truth, imagination and reality, observer and participant, art and the everyday. I invite the viewer to interact with myself as the artist and mayor by entering the installation and bringing their own experiences to the work as they explore my warped view of the world. The work takes on a sense of humor and regret as I realized I have become the captain of a sinking ship who is frantically bailing water with one hand while driving holes in the deck with the other. This act becomes one of obsession, exploration, and self-mutilation as I become lost in the work.

*For additional artist statements go to the "Gallery" Pages for PDF files.