Abstract
Ruins have always functioned as a source of inspiration for the artist. As historian Christopher Woodward explains, “The artist is inevitably at odds with the archaeologist. In the latter discipline the scattered fragments of stone are parts of a jigsaw, or clues to a puzzle to which there is only one answer… to the artist, by contrast, any answer which is imaginative is correct” (Woodward 30). I create fictional narratives that abstract elements of the New England landscape and merge them with the expansive horizons of the Inland Northwest. In doing so my paintings and monotypes function as prosceniums that allow the viewer to build an intimate relationship with the imagery by enacting his or her own personal history plays upon it.