Small Fry (2024)

Abstract collage artwork featuring torn paper layers with burnt and painted textures in beige, blue, black, brown, and red hues.

Selected features:

2025 Cimarron National Works on Paper Exhibition. Oklahoma State University Museum of Art. Stillwater, OK. Forthcoming, August 19 - December 19, 2025.

Strata III: Manifesting Through The Layers. Verum Ultimum Art Gallery. National juried exhibition. Exhibition online, gallery located in Portland, OR. August 5 - August 31, 2025.

Honeywell Annual Fine Arts Exhibition. National juried exhibition. Clark Gallery, Honeywell Center. January 27 - February 26, 2025.

Small Works. National juried exhibition. Sedona Art Center. Sedona, AZ. December 6 - 22, 2024.

2024 National Multimedia Juried Art Show. Wilson Arts. Wilson, NC. October 10 - November 3, 2024.

Small Works. National juried exhibition. Rhode Island Watercolor Society. Pawtucket, RI. September 7 - 28, 2024.

I made Small Fry last year (in 2024) on my 31st birthday while I was sick with COVID. All I could do was sit on the couch, watch mindless TV, and and make collages. Like most of my collages, this piece was made from my old artwork, and is part of my exploration into how years of work and learning shape a composition. However, Small Fry is a bit different from my other work. In addition to using my old art, I incorporated a piece of parchment paper my wife and I accidentally burned in an air fryer. Despite my COVID brain fog, Small Fry came together fairly quickly, and I felt clear-headed and focused while working. To me, the looseness of the gestures throughout the work seem to reflect the light touch that created it. My collages are usually about work, but Small Fry is more about ease: the rest that I was able to give myself by making art, and the interesting things that happen from just watching what emerges.

This artist’s statement was written as a complement to Small Fry’s inclusion in the 2025 Cimarron National Works on Paper exhibition.

Close-up of graffiti art of a woman's face on a rusted, weathered piece of paper or cardboard, with the face partially burnt or weathered.
Close-up of burnt and charred paper with abstract burnt patterns and textures.
Close-up of a burned piece of paper with a colorful painted background. Burn marks are clearly visible on the paper's surface.
Close-up of burned and curled paper on a surface with a pastel-colored portion in the background.
Close-up of a piece of paper that has had other pieces of paper glued to it and then removed so that pieces of glue and ripped paper remain on the background.
Close-up of a piece of paper that has had other pieces of paper glued to it and then removed so that pieces of glue and ripped paper remain on the background.

NEXT