I have been interested in the square for over 4 decades. In graduate school, while working towards a Ph.D. in chemistry, I designed a research proposal aimed at making (synthesizing) the energetically unstable  4-carbon almost square cyclobutadiene.  Later (ca 1986), in the artistic realm, Margo Allman introduced me to the square in her marble sculpture, Form in a Square. I immediately purchased the piece from her. This piece was just a perfect addition to our collection, since Harriet, my wife, and I had become very much interested in abstract and nonrepresentational art and collected both paintings and sculptures starting in the early1970’s.

In 1998, my painting and drawing work turned towards abstraction and I began working on a series of images whose major organizing scaffold was the square. The series of works I made follows a long tradition aimed at uncovering the essential qualities of the square which makes it a subject for art. This tradition began with Kazimir Malevich’s paintings, Black Square on White (1913) and Suprematist Composition: White on White (1918).  In my work, I have been mindful of the Malevich effect, leanness and sparseness. However, to increase pictorial interest going beyond Malevich’s type compositions, I frequently will focus on adding texture and curvilinear forms to my paintings.  Further, sometimes my works include multiple squares and arcs; and even circles and ovals, which are made to interact via a delicate harmonious arrangement. I find, for me, that this approach has many possibilities and has led to works with significant dynamism, but at the same time with surprising tranquility.