His interests in modular forms and structures involving squares and rectangles lead him to consider the interconnectivity and conjunctions of paintings and signs, material and meaning, presence and absence, and the languages of painting and speech. He earned his BFA at the Portland Museum Art School, Oregon, and his MFA at Yale University. Until 2017, he was professor of Painting and Drawing in the School of Art + Art History + Design at the University of Washington, Seattle where he taught for over two decades.