This sequence of paintings called
Expectations
and Desires chronicles the lives of two men in
the workplace: the rise to success of an industrious
employee and the dissolution and failure of the other
worker. These two men may be brothers, twins, or two
aspects of one personality. They are distinguishable
from each other by their clothes and necktie, which
remain the same throughout the sequence. The fellow
who favors the right side of the paintings is industrious;
his desires match society’s social norms. The
guy on the left is wild and struggles to balance his
own desires against society’s expectations.
Hogarth’s prints "Industry and Idleness"
have been a leitmotif for my paintings. Hogarth’s
moral censure was clear; however, I am less judgmental.
Indeed, my characters seem unaware of the contradictions
within themselves. I choose to paint my duo’s
thoughts, actions and consequences as gray.
The form of my narrative demanded that I make a sequence
of paintings to tell my characters’ story. There
are other contemporary art forms that use this format
such as film, comic strips, and storyboards. I find
these forms useful to look at, and they have elements
in common with my paintings. Yet, they do not deal directly
with the conventions and intrinsic qualities of painting.
I have looked at the few painters today who are working
this way such as James McGarrell and Gabriel Laderman.
My alternative has been to concentrate on the vast and
various sequential arts from the 14th and 15th centuries.
My sources include predellas, altarpiece paintings,
relief sculpture and illuminated miniatures. These narrative
solutions are of key interest to me as a narrative,
realist painter.
In addition to Hogarth’s images, Jean Fouquet’s
The Hours of Etienne Chevalier and the 20thc Belgian
printmaker Fran Masereel’s Passionate Journey
have been influential. Another inspiration comes from
the Dutch painter Adrien Brouwer, a contemporary of
Rembrandt’s, whose paintings depict tavern and
barroom scenes of men brawling. The relief sculpture
of Giovanni Pisano and the Limewood sculptors of early16thc
Germany have been important influences.
The chronology begins with the duos’ introduction
in
Welcome. They then
graduate from college in
Graduating
with the Art Students and enter the working world
in
Break Time. The
next three paintings depict parties.
Garden
Party is a ‘civilized’ party.
Happy
Hour and
Too Much Fun
are wild parties.
On the Job
and
Asked to Quit show
the results of idleness.
Working
Hard and
Working Smart
contrast the protagonists’ approaches to romance.
Romance is no longer an issue in
Valentine’s
Day and
Domestic Tranquility.
Dreamer is wistful
and contemplative, and
Partner
and
Hard Times depict
the consequences of our fellows’ choices.
In weaving this multi-layered, serial “morality
tale” in paint, I have tried to portray with satire
and humor the struggle to reconcile our desires with
society’s expectations. I hope that I have, as
Tom Wolfe puts it, “painted the carnival of life”
of our times.
View the work
from "Expectations and Desires" here. 
