Philosophy of Language & Philosophy of Art
PhD Candidate in Philosophy at McGill University, painter, filmmaker, designer.
About Me
People turn to the visual arts for a variety of reasons. I grew up in a family of artists, surrounded, prenatally it seems, by creative types arguing, exhibiting, discussing art, process, meaning, colour, concept, and representation. What I gleaned from this was that pluralism has supreme currency. That is not to say all art is good or correct or meaningful, but that there is not a single path towards meaning.
It is no coincidence that my disciplinary focus is “irrealism,” (or 'constructivism') the area of philosophy that welcomes a plurality of self-created worlds. At the same time, we must avoid reducing science to a purely subjective reception.
My multi-disciplinary background is in philosophy and linguistics. I exhibit in one-man and group gallery shows, am an art director in the film industry (HBO The Last of Us, and Disney+), a filmmaker, co-president of the company Lady Liberty Pictures Inc., and co-author and illustrator of the children’s book series, Soso & Frieda.
Title: "a thing is not a thing" (2002)
Please visit my other websites under the LINKS tab above right.
My doctoral supervisors at McGill are Ian Gold (philosophy) and Brendan Gillon (linguistics). My Masters is in Philosophy from the Université de Montréal, where my thesis, "Fictions in Art and Science,” was written under the supervision of Jean-Pierre Marquis.
Just as my painting reflects the fields of philosophy, language, and art, I am drawn academically to how these fields affect each other. Specifically, I am influenced by the linguists Noam Chomsky, Norbert Hornstein, Brendan Gillon, and Paul Pietroski and by the philosophers James McGilvray, Nelson Goodman and Catherine Z. Elgin.
Title: "Portofino Harbour" (2002)
Much of my work is landscapes and cityscapes and I prefer to work outdoors than to paint in the studio. However, other projects are abstract, semi-abstract or self-referential lettrist works.
Title: "Cold Morning in Montréal" (2001)