These works from 1993 were for my MFA candidacy at New Mexico State University. And while at first glance you may think these have nothing to do with later work, it was through this work that core ideas were first discovered.

At the time, other academic work was focused on researching two topics. The first related ideas about the sublime to American landscape painting. The second related the paintings of El Greco to the poetry of John Donne.

What came about in these paintings is a combination of ideas about what I called the "moral sublime" and formal concepts I was studying in El Greco and Donne, specifically elongated forms, rhythmic patterns and the physically attractive use of a media.

These works were displayed on three walls in a white room and the viewer was at once absorbed by the repetitive shapes and textures and the large format of the works themselves. The concept for these paintings was that in experiencing them, you may first be attracted to the shapes, the movements, the graphic rendering, the way they filled the room's space and consumed you inside them, but then upon further inspection, the forms of the bodies began to take form. Heads, hands, and feet would combine in your mind until you realized the grim subject matter. And for many the guilt of being attracted to such a horrific scene was quite disturbing.

It is also curious to note that in a matter of months after these works were shown Shindler's List made its appearance in movie theatres. At once I was asked if that was where I got the idea for the monochromatic color scheme. I wonder often about motivations and potential actions floating out there in the vapor. And it seems all too often that coincidences such as these take place. But that is another subject.