Statement
My current work is driven by observation, personal experience, and interdisciplinary research that explore labor, economic class, and social stigmas. I am interested in both personal narrative and socio-political issues and implement elements of subversion and satire in my work to encourage questioning and establish critiques. I use labor-based objects and banal, everyday objects as metaphors for groups of people and as surrogates for individuals. The works link the value and use of the objects with the value and social role of laborers within the working class.
Perspective and scale act to empower and monumentalize subjects while expressive drawing establishes unique identities to combat associations with the laborer as dehumanized or as Other. Some prints and drawings exist on non-traditional surfaces such as plastic bags or drop cloths. These substrates offer an additional layer of content and place the imagery in a new context elevating or empowering the ordinary. The use of language is an important aspect of my work. I use text to manipulate meaning so that truths in the message appear after being flipped or unscrambled.
My prints and drawings are disarming on a surface level, the mark-making offering an aesthetic appeal while the choice and presentation of objects nod to the Pop Art movement. However, while Pop Art questioned what art could be, my work questions what society values. Text, scale, and substrates offer additional cues that encourage a thoughtful consideration of labor roles and the socio-political or socio-economic conditions that dictate experience.
My current work is driven by observation, personal experience, and interdisciplinary research that explore labor, economic class, and social stigmas. I am interested in both personal narrative and socio-political issues and implement elements of subversion and satire in my work to encourage questioning and establish critiques. I use labor-based objects and banal, everyday objects as metaphors for groups of people and as surrogates for individuals. The works link the value and use of the objects with the value and social role of laborers within the working class.
Perspective and scale act to empower and monumentalize subjects while expressive drawing establishes unique identities to combat associations with the laborer as dehumanized or as Other. Some prints and drawings exist on non-traditional surfaces such as plastic bags or drop cloths. These substrates offer an additional layer of content and place the imagery in a new context elevating or empowering the ordinary. The use of language is an important aspect of my work. I use text to manipulate meaning so that truths in the message appear after being flipped or unscrambled.
My prints and drawings are disarming on a surface level, the mark-making offering an aesthetic appeal while the choice and presentation of objects nod to the Pop Art movement. However, while Pop Art questioned what art could be, my work questions what society values. Text, scale, and substrates offer additional cues that encourage a thoughtful consideration of labor roles and the socio-political or socio-economic conditions that dictate experience.