Artist Statement
My work deals with personal and social narratives more oblique than obvious. The images I use are primarily recognizable, whether human, other animals, the surrounding environment, or our own creations. Through the use of materials, imagery, and titles of varying origins and connotations, an awkwardness is created in which elements of both comedy and tragedy exist.
I am interested in and inspired by a diverse range of sources, including but not limited to, art history, political propaganda, and popular culture. These sources influence both the conceptual and formal aspects of my work.
It is my aim to draw viewers into my work with something that may seem familiar at first. Upon closer inspection, the presence of satire and the absurd in the work confronts the viewers and subverts what, at first seemed familiar. As a result, the viewers' perceptions of both the work and, hopefully, everything around them are in some way altered.
Among the themes explored in my current work are issues surrounding mortality, dystopia, and modernism. Within these works, I utilize humor, social commentary, and familiar iconography as a way to address complex subjects. I often reference elements of museum dioramas, cinema special effects, and industrial design. I am interested in the artifice of these working modes, as I believe they act as a metaphor for our own strategies to exist within an uncertain world.