Upon first glance, my body of work may seem like it comes from many different artists instead of one individual. I explore a wide range of styles, media, applications, and techniques, which therefore make it more difficult for the viewer to categorize my work. My attempts to vary the visual language are meant to make my artwork more accessible towards a variety of audiences and engage them through contemplation of how the imagery is accentuating the content. Although the subjects of my pieces have drifted from the realistic spectrum to the conceptual, I still find myself using elements of both. Throughout my practice, I have found one common question that all of my work stems from: what makes up the human experience?
I believe that we live in a world where we try to classify everything by extremities - it’s either yes or no, happy or sad, black or white. However, most of us will live our lives somewhere in the ‘grey”. We cannot nicely categorize our beliefs because we all fall into varying degrees on the spectrum based on our personal experiences, values, and interests. My work investigates this dichotomy. The ideas are usually born from my own life, which I then visually transcribe and try to present in a way that allows the viewers to impose on their own thoughts and reactions into the work. Issues including control, connections, stereotypes, relationships, play, and layers fuel my exploration. Some questions I ask myself while making each piece include: What are the relationships/interactions in the work? Can visual elements evoke or mimicking real situations? How can the viewer contribute to this piece? The conversation between the dueling imagery present in my work is a product of my curiosity about the world, and how individuals perceive it. Like everything else out there, my work is open to multiple interpretations, and each one has its own degree of validity. |
Artist Statment |