1991-93

My wife and I moved to Western New York during this period of time. We spent
our Sunday afternoons driving around nearby town and villages as we began to
become familiar with our new
environment. I periodically came across scenes that were mundane but seemed
to symbolize the culture in our area. We kept returning to these places as
though we were receiving some spiritual
enlightenment from those landscapes. This became the imagery for the
Madonnas of Western New York Series.

During this period, I was also interested in Mexican and Italian retablos.
These folk painting were visual prayers made for specific saints or
religious figures. I was intrigue by how the artists managed to create a
relationship between their everyday lives and a sense of spirituality
through their art. I wanted to create my own series of work that brought
this sense of spirituality into my everyday life.

As the series continued, I also incorporated landscape from my past. The
work also combined the previous concerns from the
Binary Forms. Each painting reflected connections between the past and
present.

Series consisted of 22 paintings.