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"I had been a professional painter for a number of years before coming to Smith to complete my academic degree. At the time, I had no intention of embarking on a new career, but I hoped to find a meaningful way in which to articulate a certain intellectual bent which I have always had alongside my visual imagination. American Studies interested me because it seemed a way to combine interests in several different areas. I ended up dong this as a Smith Scholar, working on an American Studies-related project. Since graduating, I have returned to a full-time career as a painter. On the face of it, this may seem to have nothing at all to do with American Studies, but much of my work, both past and present, is socially and culturally driven, and I believe that the work I did at Smith has led me to a more profound exploration of the 'connective tissue' linking social and cultural values with visual representation. In addition, I have continued in my spare time to write, with positive results. I am half-way through the second draft of one book, and have made beginnings on two others." |
