My work is the most direct way I know how to think. I don't process experience conceptually as much as I do physically; instead of resolving ideas internally, I build them into a surface and then cut back into it. This cycle of construction and removal mirrors the way I examine memory. I don't trust the first version of anything, so I test it, damage it, and expose what lies beneath.

The shifts in my subject matter or style—whether a figure, a flower, an abstract field, or a crude mark—are simply variations in surface language. These are different entry points into the same core investigation. What remains consistent is my process: I layer, obscure, interrupt, and excavate, allowing revision to remain visible as evidence of thought.

I’m not committed to a single aesthetic identity; I’m committed to the process. Each visual language functions as a tool: some ideas require distortion, others restraint; some demand humor, and others severity. Beneath these shifts, the structure holds: accumulation followed by disruption.

Ultimately, my aim is for viewers to be drawn to the imperfections and scars that reflect lived experience. I want them to see that, as in life, beauty emerges through the process itself.

©EricRottcher2026