The Role of Chaos and Control in Abstraction

Every painting negotiates a treaty between chaos and control. I invite chaos with fast pours, dragged marks, and tools that misbehave. Then I answer with structure: anchoring shapes, pauses of negative space, and edges that hold the field. The point isn’t to tame energy; it’s to tune it. If a passage feels too polite, I’ll disrupt it—flip the canvas, flood a corner, or cut through with a hard line. If it’s unruly, I’ll build a scaffold of quieter tones so the loud moments read as music, not noise. Control without risk is dull; chaos without care exhausts the eye. What I want is a living balance—surprise sustained by intention. That’s where paintings stay alive for me.