Artist statement

Perception is something all humans have to deal with. How we see each other, how others see us, how we see ourselves. It affects every aspect of our lives. People want to be seen, but we do not want to be viewed. We want to be noticed as people and we do everything we can to have our personalities shown throughout our appearances. But oftentimes that is not possible. Sometimes because personality is an abstract concept that cannot be viewed, and sometimes because there are aspects of our bodies and personalities that are viewed as shameful and taboo. 

Art is what I use to force myself to think about these things. It is a way to make other people think about these things without forcing it down their throats. It is subconscious. It is hinted at, and interpreted. I want it to make people uncomfortable without really knowing why. I want people to question their idea of what it means to be a person, a human.

My past work pertains to the human body. Skin and imperfection. Our bodies are the one thing that everyone has, and the one thing that everyone has an issue with. People hate their bodies. People starve themselves, overwork themselves, poke and prod at themselves in order to fix what they believe is imperfect. But we are organic, we bruise, we bleed, and our bodies change. This series of eight pieces consists of abstract pieces, facial portraits, body portraits, all flawed and all imperfect. 

My next work pertains to identity. It uses clowns as a symbol for how we paint ourselves to appeal to others. We use different faces to emphasize different aspects of ourselves to fit certain situations. None of it is real. It is an illusion, an act. We put on a show for others, like clowns. We laugh and cry and speak to appeal to others. We dress ourselves and get ourselves together to make others happy, to make them comfortable with our existence. This series of five pieces, three paintings, one digital piece printed and attached to a mirror, and a video. It is interactive. The whole series is titled “Welcome to Clown School” and it consists of lessons on how to become a clown. Lesson one is paint. Lesson two is face. Lesson two is outfit and lesson four is act. 

I rely very heavily on what I take away from the work of others. Not necessarily in their style, but in their messaging. Jenny Saville is one of the artists I take the most stylistic inspiration from. Our themes are often similar as well, though her work takes a more distinctly feminist route than my work does. Another artist I derive a lot of inspiration from is Avery Palmer. His work tends to be much more surrealist than mine, but his love for the strange and disturbing is something that we share. My favorite painter of all time is Francis Bacon, another surrealist. His work is made of angst and discomfort. It is highly emotional. This is something I strive for as an artist. 

I hope to continue my exploration of perception. There are so many different aspects of perception to be played with. My next work will pertain to childhood. How certain aspects of our identity are forced upon us as children. I want to look into toys. What little girls play with, what little boys play with. How this shapes how we grow up, and what people want us to become. I want to go back to bodies, show people that their insecurities are an internal problem. We are our own worst critics. We notice things that others would not think to look at. We try to look how we believe others want us to look, but in actuality no one really cares.