The series, “Bristle and Lick,” was motivated by the current lack of genuine political and social engagement. It’s become a tired argument or perhaps realization that the internet has not improved communication as promised. We are now divided more than ever into tribes and tribes within tribes, even within our own families. Everyone has a voice––and frantic to use it––lest we become invisible, but there is little connection. On an especially grievous day, mulling over the state of social discourse, I found myself repeating passages from the opinion page of my local newspaper: “… nevertheless life goes on … what matters are tomatoes.” The author had a great crop, mine was flourishing, too, but the plump fruit did not calm my angst. The red fruit seemed to denote a new norm––ambivalence.
For this series, I turned to nature as muse. The paintings are flush with formidable creatures that some may find creepy, and are at odds with their own species (self-contained plants and animals notorious for mutating in response to environmental dynamics, by changing form, reproducing asexually, or altering gender). In the paintings, they abide within fabricated worlds created by deploying paint, collage, and digital manipulation. Hundreds of individually painted flowers, creatures, and plants are digitally collaged. The resulting images are printed, mounted on aluminum, and painted into. Other pieces are painted on board; the first layer created by accidental spillage. Whether on print or board, the surfaces are lush, chaotic, layered. They can be unresolved or pacified, for example: “Out of Reach” explores a family picnic where politics is forbidden, food and the weather the only safe topics; “Snake Charmers” on the other hand, evokes a convoluted argument between two adversaries on cable TV … a tangled web of platitudes.
Solo Exhibition: Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL, 2021. Group exhibitions include: 60th Annual, Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, LA, 2023, “, “Multimedia” Nazareth College Art Center, Rochester, NY, 2020, National 2019,” Rockport Art Association and Museum in Rockport Massachusetts.
“Snake Charmers” published in Write City Magazine, copies available June 2020.
"Out of Reach," detail, acrylic on inkjet print mounted on aluminum composite, 2019
