I must warn you that I will contradict myself frequently. This is because my manifesto is of a dual nature, as am I. I’m two voices and there are two distinct sides to me. I’m a workhorse. I’m lazy. I’m involved. I hide behind others. I’m judgmental. I forgive. I hole up in a room endlessly at work. I stay out days at play. I love digital technology. Sixteen-millimeter, fifty-daylight film stock feeds a yearning in me. I want a simple life. I crave the fast-paced, unpredictable world. I like to take my time. I love the push of a deadline. I’m a junkie for collaboration. I need to be left alone to make my mind up exactly how I want it to be.
Films that I love include: “Shall We Dance,” “Amelie,” “Smiles of a Summer Night,” “Tootsie,” and “Labyrinth.” Filmmaker’s that inspire me include: Robert Bresson, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Baz Luhrmann, and Mike Leigh. Artists whose paintings have influenced me are especially: Amedeo MoDigliani and Egon Schiele. Theatre: “Into the Woods,” and “Light in the Piazza.” Other artists beyond compare: Hector Guimard, Louis Majorelle, and Edward Steichen. The fiction of Richard Bach and the philosophy of Henry David Thoreau stacked against my “how to” compilation. There are too many musical influences to mention. Places I love and miss are the coast of Maine, the French/German countryside, and the warmth of New Orleans. Words that represent me and my work are fantastical, ridiculous, fairy-tale, erotic, and old world. I question whether I showed up in this world too late and whether the work I do is not for this day and age. I make it anyway because it makes me happy. It feels like home to me.
In conclusion, my dual nature is of a singular interest. I am committed to not aimlessly float through my life. There is much I want to accomplish, as well as much that I care not to spend my time doing. Every moment of life is delicate to me. What I would like to accomplish in life after all is said and done is to make work that I think is exceptional. I expect to be able to say that from this point on I never accept a job that did not interest me; that I never compromised creatively anything that was important to the project; that I held true to my artistic integrity; and that I worked with kind people that held creativity in such high regard as I do.
“Increase in me that wisdom, which discovers my truest interest. Strengthen my resolution to perform that which wisdom dictates.” -Franklin
