“My paintings have been an attempt to regain control and begin to understand the nuances of my experiences and how I live within my own body.”

Artist Statement

Ideas that I tend to circulate usually involve the body, control, and a sense of self. I have experiences that almost entirely lay in a lack of control of my body, mind, and self. I experience a disconnect between the three that is incredibly disorienting and confusing. My paintings have been an attempt to regain control and begin to understand the nuances of my experiences and how I live within my own body. My work deals with body image and internalized trauma.

My work is rooted in intuitive painting. My color palette is incredibly high-key and high-contrast. I like to overwhelm the eyes. I use bright colors to contrast the kind of content I explore. I like to contradict dark and existentialist ideas with light and airy colors that have a less serious tone. I do this to make my content more palatable.

I have always taken great inspiration from the Fauvists. I have the same love for color and visual chaos. The wild beast that is Fauvism will always have an important place in my process. Some specific contemporary names I look to are Nicole Eisenmann, Alice Neel, Hope Gangloff, Jennifer Packer, and Susanna Coffey. My work has a rough surface quality like that of Jennifer Packer. My portraits are uncomfortable and explore my relationship with myself, similar to the work of Susanna Coffey. My work is blunt and forces one to be introspective, similar to Nicole Eisenmann. My color palette is bright and saturated like that of Hope Gangloff.  I capture the character of a person beyond surface appearance similar to that of Alice Neel. Everyone I take inspiration from reminds me to continue to push the envelope in my exploration of self.