Light travels among the layers of my work and color also journeys. The colors I have painted on the separate layers of mesh and canvas blend optically at the surface. This makes me feel that I have given colors independence. They can travel from a two-dimensional plane, enter the third dimension, and blend with another color to form a new hue.

Shaped metal mesh also permits hues to unite with different colors based on the angle from which a piece is viewed. The layering of mesh can also break apart a blend of colors. Because of the grid structure of mesh, when layered, the blend of colors can fracture into moiré patterns comprised of two distinct colors. I have learned to manipulate these patterns as design elements.

I begin a piece by painting a canvas, which is my base layer. I then paint, and sometimes shape, layers of fiberglass or metal mesh. The painted mesh is placed atop the canvas.

I have found that each type of mesh has special properties. Metal mesh has the advantage of holding a shape. When I increase the distance between layers, the illusion of greater depth might be observed. I can shape metal mesh to hold soft bends or sharp angles.

Fiberglass mesh, by contrast, behaves more like fabric. Unlike metal mesh, it fails to hold a specific form and instead can be draped. The mesh I use is porous. Thousands of tiny openings allow passage of both light and color. By using mesh as a medium, I ensure that space is incorporated into the work.

As light filters through these openings, light waves refract and reflect off each strand. As light waves collide, either constructive or deconstructive interference occurs, in essence, creating either an increase of, or a diminishing of, light. In some cases, particularly with fiberglass mesh, sections of the work become iridescent.