bio
I was born in the U.S. and raised in Europe, spending most of my childhood in Spain, Portugal, England, and West Africa, as well as shorter stays in a few other countries. My father, a U.N. hydraulic engineer and professional playwright, and my mother, who worked for The New York Times, traveled extensively, exposing me to a rich and diverse cultural upbringing, which, undoubtedly, influenced my artistic style.
Attending the University of Miami from 1976-78, I studied political science, marine biology, aesthetics, film, criticism, and English literature. I began shooting for fun with a Pentax K1000 35mm camera, which I still do from time to time.
My professional art journey began as a self taught fine art portrait photographer. In addition, I covered special events, and did commercial work for Everlast, Calvin Klein, and Advertising Age Magazine. I also did model and fashion work for Irene Marie and Click talent agencies in South Beach, Florida, many years ago. As I evolved artistically, I built a darkroom in the early 90s to develop my black and white work-related negatives. Over time, I grew frustrated with the limitations of commissioned assignments, so I began working on personal projects in my free time. In the late 90s-early 2000s, I developed a darkroom technique photo sensitizing watercolor paper with liquid emulsion and printing film noir-style nudes to create one of a kind prints. As I ran strong jets of water and my nails to scratch the image after I developed it, the end result would be full of gouges and textures.
I was a latecomer to digital photography, and reluctantly, kicking and screaming, made the transition in 2006 in both my commercial and personal work. The direction I am headed in now began in 2015. I started experimenting with a Ricoh GRD, a Fuji XE2 with old manual lenses, and an iPhone. Seeing and capturing the world in black and white this way was a godsend to me. As I explored the world of high contrast and shadows defined by sharp compositions, I found my style, my voice. This was the birth of monokrush, my artistic alter ego (I sign my work with a printed 'm' and handwritten 'x'). Initially, I enjoyed simply taking and editing the image. In time, as the work accumulated, I realized the possibilities of combining and manipulating these images together in a coherent manner that would tell a story. I was hooked. This is the strongest I have ever felt about the work I create.
Currently, I am taking my work to another level with mixed media, mounting my printed images on wood panels, at times with metal brackets and LED neon light strips, and on Chromaluxe aluminum sheets. I feel the images are more fully articulated now. They have more oxygen and feel truly alive, more palpable. In the future, I plan to add video elements as well. I will also create installations with my pieces, coming soon :)
