My images come from an interest in combining the female form with still life and vegetation to create a realm of fertile phantasmagoria. Each painting is a combination of various inspirations such as female figures from nineteenth19th century European painting, portraits from the northern renaissance, my back yard at the height of summer, the farmers market, and mid twentieth century pattern design. The forms usually start with myself, or with a friend, and then get taken apart and reassembled with other things. Although the results may seem surreal, I am more inspired by the Surrealists techniques of tapping into the subconscious rather than by actual Surrealist painting. I also have a desire to personalize idealized notions of beauty and importance.
The smaller paintings are fictitious portraits which may suggest an open narrative to the viewer. For me, these imaginary faces personify innocence, defiance, trust, and vulnerability. Their playfully absurd hair styles or head scapes are metaphors for individuality and the creative imagination. Aspects of the persona’s inner life made visible.