Artist Statement

While reading William Faulkner’s “The Sound and the Fury” in high school, I became extremely interested in the concept of “stream of consciousness”. The idea that the mind is a mirror that reflects reality, and what is reality to one person may seem unreal to another is part of this concept. Everyone’s state of conscious is in constant change. The idea of the mind being a mirror suggests that we are projected in the space we are surrounded by. In recognizing your own face, there is an awakening of self-consciousness. Yet you have not compared the true appearance of your face to what appears in the mirror, since you do not know what your face really looks like. My objective while painting, is to paint pieces of my stream of conscious that will interrupt the space of the viewers’ personal consciousness. This creates an opportunity for the viewer to remember or associate past experiences with the scene before them and connect the experiences to their interrupted state of mind. Viewers may see a resemblance or a likeness of themselves in a concept or an idea, just as easily as they see their reflection in a mirror. The human figure plays a central role and aids in portraying the concept with a meaningful gesture or an inquisitive gaze. I am fascinated by the figure and I believe it has a unique language that speaks to each of us differently. I am also fascinated by flat shapes and patterns, and enjoy combining them with fully rendered three dimensional figures. I borrow these shapes and patterns from experiences that have influenced me, or from art that has influenced me, such as early Japanese block prints, early Byzantine works, and illuminated manuscripts.