And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
– William Shakespeare

This time of economic turbulence and cultural apathy mirrors what Shakespeare presented as a duality between the realities of urban life and the romanticized vision of the Forest of Ardenne.

In this era of cynicism, I know I risk sounding insincere when I propose that some artists must play the role of shepherd, shaman, guide. Not because I have innate intuition, or heightened knowledge of the people – but because as a practitioner, and seeker of meaningful existence – I believe it is the artist’s duty to make the “good in everything” available for those who seek it.

It would be easy to allow my art to take a dramatically cynical, political turn. Instead I risk the obscure, the detailed and slow which results in a gradual revelation requiring collectors to do the work to have their gazes answered with a rich experience – leaving them with some recognition and understanding of our place in the world.