Each painting emerges from a deliberate yet open-ended process, in which material, gesture, and intention are inseparable.
Chris’s work is grounded in a materially driven approach to painting that draws from the gestural and process-oriented traditions of midcentury American abstraction. Influenced by artists such as Lee Krasner and Willem de Kooning, he prioritizes physical engagement with paint and surface as a means of building meaning.
Working primarily in oil, Chris constructs his paintings through layers that may include enamel, cement, charcoal, and reclaimed materials. These accumulated surfaces retain evidence of revision, chance, and touch, allowing fragments of earlier decisions to remain visible. The work moves between energetic abstraction and quieter, more lyrical passages, shaped by intuition and sustained observation. The result is work that emphasizes presence, texture, and the enduring capacity of painting to convey experience through physical form.
Much of Chris’s material comes from yard sales or reuse centers, where he often remixes old paint with unconventional additives like pouring mediums, cement, or even spices. Oil and house paint remain the staples in his practice, often combined in experimental ways reminiscent of de Kooning and his contemporaries. His paintings are built in layers, sometimes revealing fragments of charcoal or even mud caught between coats of enamel, oil, or cement.
Chris believes that it is these tactile nuances that set his work apart: each piece is unique, brimming with personality and imperfection—something no algorithm can truly imitate.