My paintings are deep ruminations about living life in our fleshy bodies everyday. They offer an honest, unglamorous vision of the female body that rejects decorative elements and shows only the subject and the environment. My work has roots in classical portraiture and grows organically as I react to each added brushstroke. In my newest paintings the poses of my figures exhibit both fortitude and vulnerability, and strength is shown through the subject’s robust hands. Nothing is softened. Special attention is given to the folds and fleshiness of the skin which are so often smoothed over. My intention is to create lush, visceral paintings that people can connect to and feel themselves in.
The figure is the most complicated organic form in existence. It is continuously challenging and there is no better way to connect to people than to make paintings they can instantly relate to- the depiction of another human being just like them. I’m interested in the inner dialogue, the extent to which I can touch another person just through paint. My work becomes this powerful connection to others in which I challenge the tropes of the figurative canon and convey the complexity of life’s experiences.