ARTIST'S STATEMENT //

I strive to create images that elegantly articulate the totality of existence, focusing heavily on life’s underlying instinctive, carnal nature in the face of fragility and impermanence. The concept of morality in relation to mortality has possessed a significant presence within the history of art, ranging from altarpieces to the work of the Dutch vanitas painters. Manifesting melancholic, seemingly damning themes with beauty and precision, as these artists did, results in an image that is seductive, forcing the viewer to look, despite its apparent grotesque and morbid nature. Through these images, I aspire to make apparent the restlessness of a life that is knowingly so temporary and vulnerable.

I have always thought of my work as theater or as a book, with each series being an act or a chapter. In my prior work, the content was fleshy and lush, using wine and blood as frequent allegorical symbols inspired by Bacchanalia and Christian iconography. I now journey into a new narrative world where the feast has dried up and pleasure has subsided, transformed, and ultimately, transcended. The wine is replaced by dirt and the flesh has withered away to the bone in a seemingly apocalyptic way. Insects, including moths, beetles, cicadas and locusts are significant characters, multiplying throughout the series and eventually overtaking the tableaux. They introduce a heightened sense of the frantic primal instinct that exists within all living creatures, including humans.

End of the world imagery and depictions of Hell from art history, as well as literature, such as Dante's Divine Comedy, has been a source of inspiration. These works possess a dramatic, eccentric, visceral chaos, while simultaneously possessing an ornate, sensual and romantic quality. Last Judgement paintings, like that from Michelangelo and Bosch, often depict skies filled with constellations of falling or flying angels, creatures and demons, which has become referential for the composition of the figures. The concept of Hell is varied and open to interpretation. It can be an actual physical terrain or a space within ourselves. As the work continues to evolve, it takes on even more of an earthiness while exploring themes of transcendence through suffering. It is moving toward being focused on the concept of arriving at Paradise as a result of having walked through Hell.