When I was a sophomore in college my graphic design teacher told us about Gestalt Principles. I was enamored with this theory and let it digest in my mind for years. Often referring back to it as I produced my work, allowing the principle to enter my work. And yet, the underlying principle remained out of my grasp. Something was not right; I could almost understand it, could almost form its voice and let it speak through my work. But it remained elusive.

One night, many years later I was speaking to a friend of mine about Gestalt Principles. And it hit me, heavy and hard. I had it utterly wrong. It was not “the sum of the parts is greater than the whole” but rather “ the whole is greater than the sum of the parts”. I had been operating under an utterly erroneous idea. However, the idea of "the sum of the parts being greater than the whole" remains for me, a beautiful disaster and one I cannot bear to through completely away.

In a very concrete way the idea of an e-portfolio has the hubris of "the sum of the parts being greater than the whole". Each page one views, will only give a glimpse of the whole. Relegated to a single moment of viewing, of interaction, the totality of a person becomes the sum of the parts and never the whole. As though the "sum of the parts are greater than the whole". Nevertheless, an e-portfolio is an intriguing proposition. How do you represent the whole of a person electronically? The website that this page belongs to is my attempt at an answer.

MATX

Under this site you will find my writings, power points, my dissertation bibliography and the dissertation proposal. I have kept everything intact as much as possible. Included are all my papers from the first year and the beginning of the second year. Some papers fail others are successful. But in keeping with the concept behind this e-porfolio, that is the sum of the parts being greater than the whole, I thought it would be prudent to include all the parts of my MATX explorations. It also maps to a great extent my thinking as it progresses.

ART

This section has three main sections divided by media. The series section focuses on my traditional work, the media section focuses on work that incorporates technology and the project section includes my projects on the internet.

The series section includes my visual artwork from the past, as well as current bodies of work. It is important to include not only where I am as a visual artist, but also where I have come from. To understand a work of art, a body of art, the part, if you will, needs the conncections of the previous work. It needs a context in which to be viewed. This is of course, by no means all the work I have done, but rather the series of works that best illustrate my development and interests as an artist.

The projects section includes my blog, Life, the Universe and Art. This blog has proven to be a really wonderful vehicle for engagement with the art community. And it has sharpened my own understanding of art while allowing the blogosphere to interact with it. The focus of this blog is essentially the obesession that comsumes me. How do you make a life in art and a life of art? The interviewees, I think, provide some really wonderful answers to this enigma.

The media section contains the videos and photos I have been working on. It is important to me to show not only work that I feel succeeds, but also that which is in process. With each piece, I am learning and understanding the medium a little better and by extension our interactions with media.

HOME

From here, one can access my CV, my statement, my bio, news contact information and my links. The links page also contain a way to get to my other information, such as pictures of my former students work. It also contains links to organizations that I am a member of, such as Philagrafika.

A NOTE ON AESTHETICS

This is the third incarnation of this website. It has been a long road trying to not only learn dream weaver on my own, but also create a site that is visually interesting while being understandable and navigable. I chose to utilize hand drawn aesthetics to instigate a feeling that you are engaging intimately with the site. It is not some slick graphic space, the aesthetics are not confined to the medium, that is the aesthetics are conciously suberverting the medium by refusing to employ the standard digital aesthete. It is rather a concious nod to the very first mediator, the human mark.

A NOTE ON PRODUCTION

It has occured to me, as per instructions for MATX, I should clarify what has been produced prior to MATX and what has been created during my time here. The Horns series, the Cut Out series, the Doll series and some of the Drawings and Photos were begun and completed prior to fall 2006, everything else artist production, papers, blogs etc were completed during my time at VCU. However, that definition having been made, the series I spoke of all continue to this day.