Chromatic Drift is a study in surprise—a vibrant exploration born from a desire to recalibrate my relationship with color.

At the start of the year, I challenged myself to make bold, unexpected choices: to pair colors I would never normally place together. What emerged first was a series of 20 12"x12" paintings, each one a compact, concentrated investigation of color and form.

Each piece begins with carefully composed color blocks: a dominant background, two distinct shapes in contrasting hues, and finally a thick, textured swipe of paint that fuses all the colors—including the unexpected “pop” that brings the piece to life. But the tension isn’t only chromatic. These works are also built through texture contrasts—from flat, quiet surfaces to stippled marks, culminating in the tactile density of the final gesture. Even the canvas edges extend the visual conversation: three sides painted in tones that harmonize with the whole, while one boldly echoes the pop of color, setting it apart.

What I didn’t anticipate was where this series would lead. From these small works, a new direction unfolded—large-scale paintings on raw canvas that extend the Chromatic Drift language into a looser, more tactile terrain. These pieces begin as painted fields of color, then are removed from their stretcher bars, cut apart, and sewn back together into new compositions. The colorways echo and evolve from the smaller works, creating continuity through variation—familiar yet transformed.

The process of sewing these canvases takes me back to my childhood, when I first learned to sew with my grandmother. There’s a rhythm and intimacy to stitching: a conversation between control and surrender, precision and play. In many ways, these new works feel like a return—an honoring of memory through material, a merging of color and craft.

Ultimately, Chromatic Drift has become more than a color study. It’s an evolving meditation on transformation—how friction becomes harmony, and how process itself can carry both the energy of discovery and the quiet imprint of where we’ve been.