Artist Statement
My current work combines observational image-making, narrative and a playfulness combining media reflecting on my past material experiences, as well as my work as an educator. At its core my art practice revolves around making narrative images using drawing, painting, screen printing, ceramics and glass. Through reflection and observation I document the cultural climate around me. I am interested in the space where language, image and craft meet. As an artist, image maker and designer I play with the tension of old and new technology together. I believe that current popular culture will always mirror what is beneath the surface of society and like a persons shadow not quite a realistic depiction will give a a clear outline with its silhouette.
Popular Culture is Like a Shadow
Popular culture is the practices, beliefs and objects that are dominant in a society at a given point in
time. Popular culture is an imperfect representation of the society from which it comes. A shadow casts
an outline of an object, the silhouette an identifiable reference but not an exact representation. In the
same regard, popular culture offers a visible but imperfect sketch of the society that created it.
Images that are widely circulated within a culture are important because they give form to the views of
that culture. Often what is valued in a culture is what the culture fears it might lose. This can be seen in
science fiction’s depiction of dystopian futures, but it is something that has been around as long as
human culture. A good historical example of this is Peter Bruegel’s Seven Deadly Sins which gave
visual form to the northern European Renaissance’s religious anxieties.
Much of my past work uses American popular culture as a visual language to explore and critique the
narratives, power roles and shifting identities of American culture dating back to Horatio Alger Jr.’s
formulation of the American dream.