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Growing up in the 1960's, I was witness to, and fascinated by the development of the space age in modern history. Everything about the space age sparkled with modernity, including previous generations' fantasies and expectations of what the space age would be like. Dynamic geometric shapes seemed to sum it up, and went boldy into the future starting in the early 20th century and continuing through the 1960's.
Over time, I've become particularly interested in the shapes of old motel, restaurant, bowling and other various signs from the 1940's through the 1960's that have that space age feel. I've been looking out of car windows for years and these type of signs have always caught my attention. I began photographing them in the '80's and using them as the basis for drawings that I would then build into shaped paintings. I began adding titles in 1987 and have continued ever since. Titles are a reference to the old signs and point the viewer in a direction, and are a strong visual element.
My current body of work is a continuation of shaped paintings that I began in the 1980's. Currently, I create shapes that give me the geometric, dynamic, plunging-into-the-future feel that I got from those signs. I fill the shapes with images and nature that give my work a short story quality and am creating my own vision of what the space age is really like for me.
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