Koans, Urban & Earth

These large encaustic monotypes, 60”x 38” utilize my handmade wax paint heavily pigmented with graphite powder—a mineral form of carbon. These carbon-laden works are mysterious, dark, and almost mystical—a requiem for the earth, responding to our rapidly changing environment. The wild, tangled abstractions and landscapes navigate memory, hope, and excitement while carrying my childhood landscape on the Gulf Coast forward in my mind. There, the verdant land, hurricanes, disappearing coastline, majestic oaks, and the calm but potentially destructive water and wind formed my worldview.

Like traditional Zen koans that require prolonged meditation to reveal their meaning, these works reward sustained viewing, unveiling different aspects of their complex materiality over time. A koan is a paradoxical riddle meant to transcend logic and provoke enlightenment. My Koans present their own puzzle: how is it that carbon—fundamental to all life—becomes destructive to the planet once industrialized?