This was the year I got my first camera, it was 1978.
I was born in Cold War Berlin in the French Sector in an area called Wedding. When you're a child you are not really aware of politics and post war misery, although those beginnings shaped everything that is essentially me. I began to draw, paint and take photos when I was very young. We moved to Canada and I missed the post-war rubble. In Canada as a teenager I was taught Illustration by Doris McCarthy. I decided to drop out of school and enjoy what was left of the 60's. Twenty years later I decided to go to York University where I learned to argue with a lot of interesting people about the future of Painting. I've always believed compulsive art-making is a form of mental illness that sometimes manifests itself in the production of interesting objects and concepts. I have had exhibits in Toronto and also in Berlin, where I try and spend a part of each year. I search for the process and medium which best describes my vision when approaching a subject or an idea. Sometimes I write Film scripts and short stories. As of late my work is a lot more photo-based and movie oriented. I am affiliated with 'kunstraumt27' in Berlin, and I've exhibited at York U., the Lake Galleries, Urbanscape, Propeller Gallery and other venues here in Toronto. I am in several Private Collections. I believe the ART audience today is an Iphone audience, there is a great desire for the instantly entertaining visual hit . The following pieces are a cross section of work spanning approximately eight years. CV upon request.
28 Days in my Bathroom
The Boy with the Bear on his head.
A work in progress while doing the 'Prairie Project.
Paintings 2008-9
Collage 2009-12
These Collages are the culmination of several streams of ideas. I went to see an exhibit of John Heartfields' work of WW2 Protest posters. This motivated me to go out and take photographs of Graffiti and Street Art which I combine with text and other found materials. I always ask for permission when using a copyright.
Don't worry...
The life of Christine Keeler.
The Sisters.
Self Portrait with Bear.
Celebrate Nothing.
A dream.
Agent Provocateur. 2010
Collage #3
For Shauna, Etheline and Julia. 2009
Have you too much?
Self portrait with Tiger ( for Volker Seding). 2010
Collage #1
Number 1 Danziger Str. 2011
Collage #2
Bears. 2007
Collage #4
Into the void. 2009(Black and White)
Pieta. This is an image I re-create every few years either as an installation/soft sculpture or as I did here, as a 7ft.x4ft, vinyl wall hanging. It is called........
'Bring me your filthy, hungry, violent and confused and I'll think about it....' Pieta 2011. As part of Nuit Blanche, curated by Tom Sokolowsky.
Pieta' 2002
Pieta'2007
DRAWINGS
4x4ft. graphite powder, acrylic paint, eraser and chalk.
This was an installation of Photographs, Drawings and Wall Sculpture (Quatrofoils 2ft.x2ft) I did in Berlin for "48 Stunden Neukolln". It was about my personal experience as an immigrant child coming to Canada and being promised Cowboys and Indians. Some of the Quatrofoil Wall Pieces address a number of unsavory aspects of Canadian History. This installation was shown in a Cathedral on Karl-Marx Str. It was accompanied by a Vintage archival soundtrack of a Medicine man chanting, which was augmented by a live performance of Richard Citroen playing free form Jazz on a grand piano. The audience was a mixture of multi-nationals, Berliners and hipsters. There were even a few Canadians.
Prairie #4
Quatrofoil #1This piece is called The Compass, and was inspired by the sadness I felt when listening to stories about the forced adoption of Native Children.
This is a Memorial to the Native Children of the forced adoption that was implemented by the Catholic Church and Government of Canada. The implication of this aggressive act on Canadian Native People is still felt to this day.
The Bear
The Rosary
The Innocent Eye
Oil and Tar
The Mylar Drawings. These spontaneous Drawings made with oilstick were a visual response to the invasion of Iraq. I believe the interpretation can be left to the viewer.