PARADISE LOST
My figurative paintings rely on strong, expressive brushwork to present individuals in a moment of complex emotion. I strive for the figures to be too big for the canvas, never complete, always with some part of the self enlarged—especially hands which symbolize power, agency, self-determination. Most of the figures emerge initially from poetry, especially Milton’s Paradise Lost, which I have been studying, teaching, and writing about for more than 30 years. I try to depict individuals in universally relatable way, in moments and postures that expose complex interiority. Each of the paintings below are supplemented by key quotes from Milton’s Paradise Lost (1674).
Sing, Heav'nly Muse
2018
Oil on Canvas 48''x72''(sold)
Book 1.6 (with homage to Mexican muralists)
God
2019
Oil on Canvas 30''x40''
''Now had the Almighty Father from above,
From the pure empyrean where he sits
High throned above all height, bent down his eye
His own works and their works at once to view...
Ingrate, he had all of me he could have.''
Book 3, lines 56-58
Myself am Hell
2019
Oil on Canvas 48''x60''
''Me miserable! which way shall I fly
Infinite wrath, and infinite despair?
Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell.''
Book 4, lines 73-75
After the Fall, Eve
2020
Oil on Canvas 48'' x 60''
''...silent, and in faceConfounded long they sat, as strucken mute...''
Book 9, lines 1063-1064
This is my Fire
2020
Oil on Canvas 36''x48'' (sold)
''I thither went...to look into the clear, smooth lake that to me seemed another sky. As I bent down to look, just opposite, A shape within the wat'ry glean appearedBending to look on me, I started back, It started back, but pleased I soon returned,Pleased it returned as soon with answering looks, Of sympathy and love; there had I fixed Mine eyes till now, and pined with vain desire,Had not a voice thus warned me, 'What thou seest,What there thou seest fair creature is thyself,With thee it came and goes: but follow me, And I will bring thee where no shadow stays Thy coming, and thy soft embraces, heWhose image thou art, him thou shall enjoy Inseperably thine...''
Book 4, lines 456-472
After the Fall, Adam
2020
Oil on Canvas 48''x60''
''...but high winds worse within Began to ride, high passions, anger, hate Mistrust, suspicion, discord, and shook sore Their inward state of mind''
Book 9, lines 1102-1125
Upstream
2020
Oil on Canvas 36''x48''
''...from her husband's hand, her hand soft she withdrew''