Printmaker + Painter

My work is entirely autobiographical, re-imagining the memories of growing up on military bases in the American south. This life of being exposed to the dim part of reality surrounding violence, and feeling a type of control that is both harmless and detrimental shaped my upbringing. Through various documents, such as photos hidden under dressers in old shoe boxes, I am discovering who I am, who my blood relatives are, and where I fall in the lineage. 

This process has led me through my memories of pockets of habitation grouped neatly in desolate landscapes, in which almost nothing happens, except for traces of life here and there. It is the life that you could smile in, but know that something will always occur, or already has, and you are in the aftermath of it. That life grins at you, watches you, keeps you safe, but also keeps you quiet. 

My most recent works, “A Mother’s Love,” and “A House of Hope and Mercy,” have been worked from both imagination and old photographs. The woman in both of these works has the same smile, same gaze, same feeling, same haircut. She is completely static, fossilized in time, and her surroundings are immutable and sterile. 

Working with palettes of fleshy, uncomfortable hues, and unrecognizable faces has broadened what I know about my artwork. It has brought me closer to these settings and understanding that this is a structured world that seems to have very little opportunities for imagination, joy, and self impulsion to blossom.