Neil Armstrong
Astronaut
He's got balls bigger than King Kong
First big suit on the moon
And he goes to play golf
Holy One[1]

My practice and research has moved from painting lush, image-saturated critiques of popular media and fashion advertising into work expressing the transcendent natures of space exploration and sexuality.

I have been interested in space exploration and the cultural results of research toward increasingly sophisticated probes into outer space for and by humans for some time. The creative determination that one's knowledge will lead outside the realm of possibility is similar to the hope and expectations offered by Western religious belief. I am exploring the contradictions and fantasies that make up the life of an astronaut. The astronauts, in my paintings and drawings, exist as saints of the space age. That is the images express the possibility of transcending earth's gravity and experiencing what astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell described as "an ecstasy of unity"; or a relation to the divine, the knowing of a saint. Space exploration has granted earthlings a unique understanding of the mysteries of the universe. However, this transcendent journey involves the physical and psychic risks of death, radiation exposure, isolation, and confinement. The ecstasy and horror of space exploration is embodied in the astronaut floating alone or tethered within the liminal space I create of images and signs of religious, advertising or scientific cultures on earth. I imagine the astronaut returned from space or the moon, as one no longer part of earth, as extraterrestrial, as alien. My astronaut paintings are an expression of a transcendent past. In some of my pieces, I reference Russian and Byzantine icons in the placement of astronauts as central saint within a mythic rocky landscape. However, in contrast to traditional icons, I view these astronaut works as catalysts for dreams and hopes and not as agents of the divine.

[1] Black Grape, "In the Name of the Father", from CD titled It's Great When You're Straight, Yeah. The verse ends with "hole-in-one", however, until I read the lyrics, Holy One was what I heard.

Note: Pronunciation of the titles of my works is phonetic.
Upper case vowels are long.