Connections 2 (2005)

About the Artist:
I am originally from Sudbury, Ontario where I stayed until about two years after completing a degree in Economics at Laurentian University. From there I moved to Toronto to pursue a career in financial services. It only took me two months to realize that I had made a BIG mistake. I hated working at the bank. So I quit.

Thus began a two year search for something to do with my life. With the support of the woman who would become my wife a few short years later, I found SB & H, the Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus Association of Ontario. I have been working with them for nearly ten years now. Having spina bifida made the decision to work there easy. Helping people.

Through all of my trials, tribulations and uncertainty, two things have remained constant: the support of my family and friends and my passion for art, specifically photography and digital art. My work has come a long way from the snapshots in the Lasalle Secondary School yearbooks to hanging on the wall of the Joseph Carrier Gallery.

Artist's Statement:
I suppose the day I was born I instantly became a son- my first role as a human being. Since that day, I have become a brother, friend, student, tenant, disability advocate and supporter, husband and a whole host of other roles. Most recently and after much consternation, fear and outright resistance, I became an ARTIST. There it is; that scary word that suggests I know what I’m doing when it comes to art. This newest title still fits like a new pair of hard leather shoes - supportive but painful.

Being chosen for the CONNECTIONS 2 Exhibition, along with over 50 other artists from around the world has gone a long way toward cementing my impression of myself as someone who just might be able to convey ideas, feelings and concepts using visual media.

The piece that I have included in the exhibit entitled "Time for Canada" speaks to another of my roles – I am Canadian. The small “c” is not a typo. The political landscape of the 21st century suggests that it is good for one’s health to differentiate oneself as much as possible from America. For most of us that means rejecting the outspoken patriotism of Americans in favour of an apologetic, "nice" sense of pride in our country and its people.

This has got to stop!

Yes, we have something to fear from terrorism. Yes Canada IS a very different place from the United States of America. No, Canada has not yet assumed its proper place in the world. And we won’t until we learn to be PROUD OF OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

Exhibitions:
NOW lounge – A solo exhibit of photographs showing the interconnectedness of nature and the man-made world.