Artist's Statement
My work is about the reconfiguration of memories. The ideas are rooted in personal experiences and observations, many of which can be considered archetypal concerns: modes of communication, identity, and feelings about loss and death. I re-contextualize familiar images to evoke a new interpretation, narrative, or meaning. Contrasts between the familiar and unfamiliar ask the viewer to reflect on things they know or have seen, and how they can think about a memory in a different way.
Sometimes, an idea for a new work emerges in my mind’s eye as fully formed, with subject matter, color, and texture very clearly defined. At other times, a concept will gestate for a while, over months or years, and its development will be influenced by a new visual cue, such as an outfit or vintage wallpaper. I am always making connections between past and present, processing my own experiences by conceptualizing and creating the work. Once my relationship to the subject matter is determined, I consider what visual material to present and their dramatic possibilities, and what the look and “feel” of the overall work will be. Composition, symbolic references, gestures of the images, and media are all carefully considered. Although my graduate degree is in painting, I recently have been experimenting with alternative two- and three-dimensional materials to express my ideas more fully. My chosen material, technique, execution, and presentation are driven by both conceptual and practical concerns. Content manifests in different ways, from ironic or humorous, to descriptive of personal narrative, or visually decadent and pleasing for its own sake.
In terms of formal aspects, color and texture are important elements, used to reinvigorate traditional motifs to describe our contemporary culture of technology and fashion. Trained as an undergraduate in textiles and having worked for high-end product design, I often include repeating pattern as a flat compositional device, adornment, or to conceptually support other images, as well as impart structure or additional layers of content.
I would describe my painting style as realistic. However, the physicality of the paint or material, as well as maintaining visual evidence of my own hand, is important to me.
My viewer is invited to partake in the pleasure of discovering familiar themes and new meaning through the work, and the satisfaction of completing their part of the meaning’s circuit.