My artwork is inspired by philosophical questions and personal experiences that are prompted from the colors and textures of weathered and worn metal, the changing scenery of the landscape, or from the recollections of childhood memories. The sum of these inspirations are unified by the concepts of growth and change, my own and that of the body of work. The translation of my experiences provides the opportunity to discover new variations in theme, process, and media. For example, monotype printmaking allows me to present the often overlooked beauty of metal eroding, revealing its story layer by layer. Digital photography encourages me to revisit the places of my childhood and consider the effects of the passing years. Painting provides a playground for the exploration of line, shape, texture, and color in a symbolic and nonobjective manner.

I was born the only American in my West Indian, Guyanese family. My culture played a large part in how I was brought up, and in turn, shaped the person and artist I have become. In my work, I like for my viewers to get a personal feel for what it is like to be West Indian American. My work is a cultural record of people, places, and things. I capture small, special moments because I know that they will never be recreated. My camera’s viewfinder has always been filtered through my eye as a child of immigrant parents. I use photography as my first step in creating and recording ordinary, everyday things. Photographs are captured where I feel most American eyes would by-pass or overlook their importance. However, my work must also involve my hand. Therefore, through my mark making, whether I am drawing, painting, collaging, stitching or using software, I add and subtract from my original photos. By manipulating my images, I change and emphasize a single, fleeting moment into something permanent and significant.

Experimentation is the beginning and end of all of my art. I examine the interactions of the materials that are involved in the journey of creativity. Typically, I begin a piece with an irregularly drawn line, using a white crayon to resist the media that I will later apply, thereby creating a negative line. This gestural line becomes an element that helps direct my intuitive mark-making. My process involves masking, using resists, and layering materials. I then remove the layers of media by scraping or sanding them away changing the texture of the paper. I am drawn to media that is unpredictable, difficult to control, and can be unforgiving. These qualities enhance the process of the experimentation because application of a pigmented mark cannot completely be erased. The resulting work reveals its history through the process of making it.

Society and popular culture present their ideas of perfection through the media. I wish to reinvent these standards in my art, to show the beauty of the ordinary and the grace of the flawed. Beauty, by definition, is that which gives intense aesthetic pleasure. I think that aesthetic pleasure can be found in the commonplace and I use aspects of cropping, perspective, and scale to show these everyday items as extraordinary. I want people to realize the loveliness of a street lamp, the sensuality of a smile, or the poetry of an elbow. This is the underlying theme that runs through all of my work. The evolution of the methods used to create this beauty is also important. Cropping images and adding textures to my supports has shaped my approach to realism. It has been quite a journey.

D.M.A. final project--Department of Music, Stanford University, June 2002. / For voice, instrumental ensemble, electronics, dance ensemble, video projection, and theatrical staging. Includes abstract, notes on instrumentation and performance requirements, instructions for performance, and formal overviews of each act. Accompanying sound and video discs contain component materials for performance. Duration: ca. 90 min.

D.M.A. final project--Department of Music, Stanford University, 2002. / Introductory materials in English include program notes, performance instructions, technical requirements, staging diagrams, and video image examples. Duration: ca. 14:30.

Zugl.: Zürich, Universiẗat, Diss., 2007 u.d.T.: Strang, Thomas: Rechtsfragen rund um Multimediakunst.

No description available.

My work investigates both the objective and the subjective nature of my intimate relationship with nature. I explore my embrace of both art and science, the realistic and the abstract in my search for the immanence of goodness in creation. From a grain of pollen to a beautiful blossom to a decaying pod, the natural world celebrates life’s insistence on recreating itself. All around me, nature is quietly dancing to a peaceful song of restoration and balance that offers me hope of a continuance and beauty in spite of the neglect I sometimes offer in return. My recent work, in paintings, prints, and mixed media, features the unassuming forms of plants from backyard gardens and neighborhood walks, both those that are cultivated and those that spring up as weeds.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.