Artist Statement

My current work focuses on the fantasy and portrayal of the American Dream in pop culture. Playfully mixing low brow materials and imagery with traditional media, installation and performance bring the viewer into my paintings. Using dramatic cropping, camera angles and controlled color, I frame each painting like a movie still to blur the line between memory, imagination, and the cinematic experience. Creating an uncanny resemblance to public places such as a gas station or dive bar gives a unifying context and narrative to individual artworks.

Incorporating American youth culture aesthetics and a variety of shiny, colorful materials enables me to explore the absurdities of life while giving my work the feeling of a rebellious Kurt Cobain wanna-be, adolescent daydream or the trashy sensibility of a coked-up party gurl. With installation, I can create an overstimulating, beautiful space for the viewer to feel the melancholy of the subjects in my paintings. Formally trained as a painter, I draw inspiration from and make references to artists like Mark Rothko, Audrey Flack, and Richard Estes in my installation work. Conceptual artists like Adrian Piper, Mike Kelley, and Joseph Beuys continue to shape and change my idea of the artist’s role in society.