Artist Statement
My work is an exploration of psychological narratives that capture fragments and recreate moments of my childhood memories. These personal observations come from my experience of growing up in the presence of my grandfather who suffered from schizophrenia.
These life-size drawings/paintings present an immediate and intimate tangible expression of memory. They represent universal themes of the human condition of life at its darkest and brightest points. My intension is to evoke an emotional response and connection that resonates with the viewer.
My work is punctuated with sharp imagery and abstracted elements that stand vividly against an obscure background. To create psychological tension with a sense of immediacy, layers of intense mark making and erasures are juxtaposed against hazy atmospheric smudges of charcoal and veils of acrylic on paper. The use of selective color suggests how the mind retains specific details vividly while others remain bleak or disappear into abstraction.
My work follows a pluralistic approach within contemporary figurative painting rooted in the tradition of narrative art. I work with a collage-like process appropriating from a combination of sources: sketches, observation, intuition, imagination, and vintage portrait photography.
Early experiences and memories from my childhood in Fayetteville, North Carolina have become the foundation for the development of my visual language. Images of little girls, distressed men, tumbling kittens, birds, and broken chairs strive to connect with one another while sharing an inner life at odds with reality. They discover an internal world unrestricted by logic or structure that conveys an underlying sense of anxiety and uncertainty.
I intend for these frozen moments of childhood memories to intimately and physically engage the viewer while sharing an honest reaction and dignified experience that everyone can relate to. These narratives are personal observations of the human condition that present an immediate and intimate, tangible expression of memory.
