These paintings are part of my ongoing “Family Dynamics” series examining the struggles, fears, joys, mysteries, frustrations, contradictions and idiosyncrasies of being a member of humanity in an increasingly chaotic and mystifying world, the concept of “family” signifying one of traditional insularity or the global human family, with direct parallels often uncomfortably emerging. Accordingly, and not surprisingly, disjointed scenes of psychological weight play out in these stark, roughly rendered portraits of interrelated but seemingly detached figurative entities. Regardless of the intended meaning or expected outcome at the center of these dramas, the duality of the central characters’ isolation and their quest for connection portends either a disturbing edge or a calming serenity, with the question of which left lurking in the details. Here all human desires involve some degree of struggle, doubt and alienation, yet can ultimately reveal a path to joy or at least acceptable resolution.