My work is about the flavor of memory. These images are collaged together from found photographs of random people; strangers to me. They are other people's memories which I cut up, distort and re-assemble. I am not interested in describing these memories, but in extracting the essence of those memories from the actual details of the people, places, and times involved. It is not the memories themselves, but the fleeting and fragmentary feeling of memory: the flavor of it that filters through. 

I don't know what memories feel like to other people, but I do know what they feel like to me. Ever since my childhood I've been fascinated by other people’s family photographs; antique ones especially. There were hardly any pictures of my own family around our house when I was growing up. It seemed we were always too busy to take or collect them, so my questions about our history, our family memories, even my own memory, fell on the photographs of strangers. These people, who seemed as though they must have been like my family, like me. Through these images I found myself trying to connect the dots to my own and my family's collective memory; trying to find my piece in the puzzle. In time, I found that this collective memory extends far beyond my own family; indeed it seems to me that it extends to every person; to every living thing.

I believe that all of us; as viewers of art, and of everything else around us, respond to the images that we see through the filter of our memory: we are drawn to certain works of art and not others because of the feelings that these works trigger or evoke in us. The art that we are drawn to tells us just as much, if not more, about ourselves than it does about the artists or the works they have created. It is not my intent to tell any particular story with these paintings; not my own; not the stories that lie behind the original found images. Rather, by tapping into images that spark my own murky and uncertain memory, it is my intent to draw out each viewers own internal stories; to provoke in them some connection to that collective experience.

ABOUT MY TATTOOING --

I've been tattooing for over 15 years now. I started in 1994 after finishing a Masters Degree in Fine Arts at Ohio State University. My painting, drawing, and sculptural work have always been a big influence on my tattooing. In my early years I used a lot of scribbly lines and strong textural drawing effects to cover up for my shitty tattooing, and I still do that today!

It's been a long time since then, and I've learned to respect the old traditions a great deal. It was hard for me, even with my fancy Art School degrees, to learn how to put in a good solid, clean tattoo. I had a lot of "unlearning" to do. But I still believe very much that you can also incorporate more interesting drawing styles into good tattooing, and by combining the two, it's possible to get the best of both worlds.

I do all kinds of stuff, and it's different for every customer every day. That's the thing that keeps it fresh for me. Even projects that seem like they kind-of suck have something to offer, or something cool that I can pull out of them if I work at it, or just re-think it. I'm constantly having to think beyond what my clients bring in to me, but without losing track of their intention.

I like to do work that is as non-traditional as possible; anything painterly and unusual is fun; The real question is how far can we push this tattooing thing? and in how many directions at once?