In my paintings, I create microcosms that emulate and challenge the allure of recognizable imagery and sensual beauty. I combine my fascination with paint's physical qualities with images that ignite personal feelings of longing, emotional attachment, and romanticization.
References include impressions of architecture, my body, and familiar, pervasive Western folklore that became deeply ingrained in my psyche during childhood. I comment on the aesthetic qualities of these references while critiquing their more harmful properties. One theme is the misogyny reflected in the history and storytelling of the representation of women and their bodies against the backdrop of intoxicating and mystical landscapes and architecture. I recognize the influence of these depictions in my life and evaluate their lingering effects as I repurpose their aesthetics and contexts. Coming to terms with the dangers of internalizing these stories led me to a loss of innocence, which I express by fusing contrasting personal images that represent my pre-vs. post-innocence stages: Parades of confetti commingle and contend with deep water-colored, foreboding orbs.
Romantic and idealized themes and imagery of beauty, genius, wealth, and reason course through the history of oil painting. I combine traditionally taught painting techniques with defiance. For example, I strive to create visually balanced worlds with light, depth, and form. Yet I counter this logic with anti-techniques that deliver unpredictable alchemical results such as over-diluting paint, puddling, pouring, and scraping.
Through an intuitive process of layering and revealing, I give form to foundational memories of altered time and place, combined with a homage to the contemporary Western zeitgeist of the fantastical and the speculative. The paintings make visible the magic evident in a world fractured with lies: petals punctured with a glint of foil burst from fault lines.