This introductory poem comes from my book, (OVER) which is a collection of more than forty chance-determined poems. The content of each poem is directly excerpted from the art historical writings compiled in the book Art In Theory 1900-2000 (or AiT). I would read a piece of writing from AiT and, being the avid under-liner that I am, would start underlining passages I found significant. Upon turning the page to continue reading, I discovered the lines I marked on the opposing page were bleeding through, presenting me with new, unanticipated underlined passages. Seeing this as a marvelous opportunity, I began writing out the emerging lines in a poetic form gifted to me from the process (i.e. If a line bled through and had no corresponding text, the line was left blank [as seen above]). For each piece of writing I read, I created a poem. After accumulating a number of poems, I edited the collection down to only the most communicative and metaphoric of the bunch.

I find (OVER) to be a suiting introduction to understanding my artistic practice because it exemplifies my interests in chance-operations, art history, and creative writing, all the while exhibiting how I employ a degree of performance as a means of executing my conceptual systems. The origin of my interest in performance/chance-operations, and where I learned an onset of conceptual approaches directly stems from my collaboration with Merce Cunningham on the production, Split-Sides. This rich, formative experience, paired with my later academic training, had a large impression on how I make art. And over the years, I have grown increasingly affectionate towards the medium of photography, creating numerous photographic suites that make congruent, expressive references to photographic experience.

With GOALS I began to investigate, in a metaphoric and symbolic manner, the nature of photographic representation. Using sporting goals as stand-ins for the inherent framing of the camera, I sought to form a system expanding the photograph (and the constrictions of the “frame”). Doing so by conducting two drawings on top of the photograph of the sporting goal – one being a blind contour drawing of everything existing outside of the sporting goal (360 degrees), and the other being a wind drawing of the atmosphere of the photographic site (sporting field). The end result – the expanded photograph – is one of a strata of information, colliding to speak to what is seen in a photograph, and what is not, all the while hinting at a sense of "being there."

In my Still life photographic suite the conceptual premise is one that wholly references the very medium it exists within: photography. Each photograph is of photographic chemicals blankly crystallizing and evaporating on top of the glyph-like “X” or sun-shape contour on the bottom of a given chemical tray. Intentionally photographed using a digital "back" to a traditional large-format camera, and subsequently printed by digital means, an aim of this work is to open up a larger conversation about the relevance of the traditional photographic manner of working in the midst of our digital, image-emphasized culture. In addition, an emphasis is also placed on recognizing the simplistic beauty of the oxidized and decaying “still life.”

Most recently I have begun work on a soap opera video project called, My Falcon Crest (or MFC). As a personal recreation of the original episode that was airing on the day of my birth, from primetime 1980's melodrama, "Falcon Crest,” MFC’s conceptual premise derives from my discovery of my namesake coming from – not my own Heishman family lineage – but instead “Falcon Crest” soap character Chase Gioberti (played by actor Robert Foxworth). For MFC I will play the role of my fictitious “elder” and try to learn the commonalities I share with my namesake. To date, MFC is a pleasant culmination of my artistic practice, bringing me closer to a union of artistic methodologies and personal history – all the while exploring narratively, deeper issues of identity, humor, and performance.