Rembrandt once said.

Rembrandt once said the character of a person is etched in their face. No one could fool him.

Over the years, both as a painter and a curator, I’ve come to realize the same is true of painting.

A painting holds more than imagery—it holds intention, emotion, and truth. Every mark on the surface is a record of a decision made, a hesitation overcome, or a risk taken. Whether bold or restrained, chaotic or precise, the work always tells the truth about its maker. Even when we try to hide, the painting reveals us.

As an artist, I’m drawn to this honesty. I don’t approach the canvas simply to depict something, but to uncover something—something about the subject, about the process, and ultimately about myself. The brush becomes a kind of mirror. What ends up on the canvas is often as much a portrait of the internal landscape as it is of any external form.

As a curator, I’ve learned to look at paintings with this same sensitivity. I listen to them. I observe how they carry the emotional residue of the artist’s presence. A sincere painting—regardless of style or medium—always leaves a trace of the soul that made it.

In both my own practice and in the work I choose to show, I seek that truth. The character of a painting can’t be faked. It’s there—in the texture, in the rhythm, in the silence between colors.