My recent work focuses on railroad equipment – engines, boxcars, and cabooses I find in working railyards, railroad museums, and abandoned tracks in the mid-Atlantic region. I find beauty in both the design and decay of these machines. I’m fascinated by the compositions they conjure by the play of light and shadow across their surfaces, and the colors and textures that are described by the effects of time and weather. Their impressive size and power of form tell the story of enduring solidity despite being overtaken by the elements. I am drawn to each of these qualities. My aim is not to evoke a feeling of nostalgia for the “good old days” of railroading but to show the character of each piece as they are- machines at work, and of machines having been used and discarded, but not forgotten.
