Artist Statement (Excerpt)

In my work, I find balance between disgust and fascination in depicting what is horrifying, what is abject, in non threatening ways. I believe my work is non threatening from the way I render my subjects as well as the context I place them in. There is a distance between the viewer and what is depicted; there is no smell, the colors are vibrant and border on unnatural, so there is an understanding that none of it is real.

In my recent work, I have been focusing on the relationship between the body or self and technology and the tangible vs. the intangible. The internet and the mind, as we understand them, are intangible, untouchable. In contrast, both are rooted in the physical, their bodies. I have been breaking down the self into solely bodily terms by depicting the viscera to represent it. The interior of the body is more universal than the exterior appearance of it and is shared between other animals. It represents living, it is what grounds us physically to the world around us, it is finite and disgusting as it is full of potential and beautiful. 

This change of perspective is as grounding as it is threatening.  I place the organic, bodily masses I depict working in conjunction with representations of the “body” of technology. In my pieces, the body is at times indistinguishable from the tech, as they are rendered similarly. The works are pattern-like and limitless, continuing off the page to emphasize the scale of our collective relationship with technology.

When looking at my work I ask a viewer to consider that relationship. How are we being affected by this? Are we adjusting to accommodate it, physically, mentally, socially? Are we coping well?