Statement: South Pacific Bora Bora

A month after a vacation in the South Pacific—specifically in French Polynesia and the island of Bora Bora—I began to deeply relive the extraordinary experience I had just undergone, both as an individual and as a painter.

The silence, serenity, light, beauty, color, and peace inspired me to express these feelings in my paintings. Accompanying these memories was a poem that has always inspired me throughout my life—by the 17th-century English poet William Wordsworth—which reads: “Though my eyes can no longer see that dazzling gleam, though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flowers and the blues of the water, there is no cause for grief, for beauty will remain forever in memory.”

This series of paintings is created using acrylics on a textured surface made from sand and volcanic rock from the beaches of Bora Bora, Tahiti, Tetiaroa, Huahine and Moorea. They are collages incorporating authentic, natural marine elements such as shells, coral, and sea snails. The works measure 16″ x 20″ and are painted on canvas.