My work explores the fragile threshold between life and dissolution, memory and myth, presence and absence. Through mixed media painting, collage, found materials and layered surfaces, I treat decay as a transformative condition rather than an ending. It is the state through which beauty, meaning and spiritual resonance appear.
I am drawn to the physical evidence of time: abrasion, fracture, repair, accumulation and erosion. These marks work formally and conceptually at once. They record the human effort to understand impermanence and to locate meaning inside change. The surfaces I build hold visible histories, so the material language of a piece mirrors the emotional reality that shaped it.
These figures suggest communication across the boundary of the living and the dead, the material and the immaterial. In that sense the work develops as a series of visual myths shaped by grief, reverence and a desire to recover the wonder that contemporary life so often obscures.
Ultimately I am interested in how an image can hold contradiction: fragility and strength, beauty and decay, mourning and continuity. The work invites the viewer into a contemplative space where those tensions stay unresolved, and stay present.
In ancient Scandinavia Eikthyrnir was the Deer God from whose antlers produced all water, spilling from the ends of its giant antlers down from above to form the streams, rivers and vast oceans.
The use of marigolds signifies wealth, health and prosperity, but the vibrant colors of the flowers remains shrouded and inaccessible, as we all struggle to find these things in life.
The use of marigolds signifies wealth, health and prosperity, but the vibrant colors of the flowers remains shrouded and inaccessible, as we all struggle to find these things in life.
Every painting begins as an accumulation. Materials are burned, ground, poured, sanded back and rebuilt until the panel carries a record of its own making.
Tree Stories Tree Stories” a group show at the Sasse Museum of Art, Pomona California,
Melancholy – 2024 | Group Exhibition Group Exhibition Duration: From 25-Dec-2023 To 25-Feb-2024 Organizer: Gallerium
Signs and Symbols 2024 Group Exhibition Duration: From 10-Jan-2024 To 10-Mar-2024 Organizer: Gallerium Signs and
Influx Gallery interview 1. Welcome John to The Influx Gallery family. Tell us a little
My work explores the fragile threshold between life and dissolution, memory and myth, presence and absence. Through mixed media painting, collage, found materials, and layered surfaces, I investigate decay not as decline alone, but as a transformative condition through which beauty, meaning, and spiritual resonance emerge.
I am drawn to the physical evidence of time — abrasion, fracture, repair, accumulation, and erosion. These marks serve both formal and conceptual purposes, reflecting the human effort to understand impermanence and to locate meaning within change. The surfaces I build often hold visible histories, allowing the material language of the work to mirror the emotional and existential realities that shape it.
Folklore and ancestral memory remain central to my practice. I often use deer, elk, birds, and other symbolic animal forms as messengers between worlds — figures that suggest communication across the boundaries of the living and the dead, the material and the immaterial. In this way, my work develops as a series of visual myths shaped by grief, reverence, and a desire to recover a sense of wonder that contemporary life so often obscures.
Ultimately, I am interested in how images can hold contradiction: fragility and strength, beauty and decay, mourning and continuity. My work invites viewers into a contemplative space where these tensions remain unresolved, yet meaningfully present.
