On November 6, 2026, my solo exhibition Owing to the Absence opens at the Burnell R. Roberts Triangle Gallery in Dayton, Ohio. The exhibition brings together 32 works, all of them ink on paper, in a one person show devoted to this series.

I made the Owing to the Absence works in 2022 and 2023. Most are large sheets, around 77 by 56 centimeters. Two of the works are mounted on wood panel. The rest are paper, and paper does not forgive. Ink goes down and it stays. There is no painting over, no scraping back, no second version hidden under the first. Every tone in these works is a decision that had to be right the first time, or the sheet was lost.

The series is built from shades of ink. Black is only the starting point. Diluted, ink gives greys that can be as soft as breath on glass or as dense as a shadow at noon. The figures in these works appear and withdraw inside those greys. A shoulder is there. A face is almost there. The title is not a riddle. These are works about what is missing, drawn with the most direct material I know.

Individual works from the series have been exhibited before, including at the Holt-Russell Art Gallery in Illinois in 2024. Dayton is different in scale. Thirty-two works in one room means the whole argument of the series is on the walls at once, sheet after sheet of ink, with no hiding places for the weaker pieces. A series either holds together at that size or it does not. I believe this one does, and the exhibition is the proof I am offering.

The paintings traveled from my studio in Dallas to Dayton in October. Works on paper ship flat and protected, and the gallery confirmed that all 32 arrived safely. There is a particular relief in that message. Paper that has crossed half the country is paper you have worried about, however well it was packed.

On Friday, November 20, at noon Eastern, I will give an artist talk on Zoom about the exhibition. The talk will last up to 20 minutes. I will speak about how the series was made, why ink, and what the works are looking for. If you cannot be in Dayton, the talk is the way to walk through the show with me.

If you are near Dayton, I hope you will see the works in person. Ink on paper has a presence that a screen flattens. The greys are quieter and deeper in the room, and the scale of the large sheets only registers when you stand in front of them.

The full series can be seen on the Owing to the Absence series page. The works are also listed, with sizes and prices, in my store.