Rivers and Waves, a series of oil paintings on panel, reflects my ongoing interest in natural systems and cycles. Inspired in part by the Medina River, which flows just below my studio in Castroville, the series includes four large oil paintings on panel (36 x 72"), for small oil studies on panel (12 x 24"), as well as preparatory works in silverpoint and watercolor. The imagery consists of complex linear systems painted over backgrounds of layered oil glazes. The undulating lines create the illusion of wave motion, while the richly painted grounds suggest light reflecting on deep water. Each composition is bissected by a narrow, open area referencing the path of a river as seen from above. The palette of each painting varies to suggest different lighting conditions, seasonal variation, or different times of day.
The works embody some of the traditional preoccupations of landscape painting in their manipulation of color effects to create illusions of light, space, and atmosphere, which are overlaid with diagrammatic representational systems derived from the sciences. While maintaining the horizontal format characteristic of the landscape tradition, the paintings explore a complex spatial conception, which conflates a macroscopic, map-like view from above with a small-scale reference to the structure and motion of waves.