Painting

Archived Work

Contact Information

e-mail:
Please contact artist for purchases, commissions, etc.

Artist Statement

I am intrigued by the very specific details of stories in the Old Testament of the Bible and the literal and descriptive quality of its narratives. The interplay of violence, lust, betrayal and revenge in the story of Samson creates space for both direct straightforward human emotion as well as the complex motivations that drive all actions.

In this series I focus on the stories of Samson. I remove the figures from the traditional rectangular picture frame and place them in a timeless space-less environment, replacing the traditional gold-leafed otherworld of altar paintings with the ambiguous space of a white wall.

I look to more contemporary images to retell these stories as they have been relayed and translated over time. I am particularly interested in the female characters and how their actions represent the full range of femininity. I particularly point to their identity through the use of pattern and gesture. I represent them all with a similar figure who plays out all of the roles of the women in the story. None of the range of the feminine characteristics is mutually exclusive and I imagine that all of them are manifested in some way in all of the women.

The landscape pieces suggest a context for the figures without identifying them specifically in a defined space. The landscapes are drawn from my observation of planted environments in an urban context. By literally cutting out these landscapes and emphasizing the manner in which the grid encroaches on natural forms, I conceal visual information. In the same manner that traditional altar paintings removed the environment from the figure, often including only a view out a window of a distant vista, I have removed the figure from the environment to emphasize their disjuncture.

I ask the viewer to live without a lot of information and try to relate to only what is in front of them. By removing the figures and environments from each other I imply more of a narrative than I actually describe.

Education

2012
The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
MAT, Visual Arts

2006
College of Fine Arts, Boston University, Boston, MA
BFA, Painting
Graduate Cum Laude

2005
Junior Semester Abroad, Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Venice, Italy

Continuing Education
2010
Mural Artist Training Program 2010, Mural Arts Program, Philadelphia, PA

2009
The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Certification Program, Teaching Artist

2008
Etching I, Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA

Selected Exhibitions

2011
2011 Department of Art & Design Education Graduate Student Show, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia,PA

Creative Community: Mural Arts Artists, Lincoln Financial Mural Arts Center at the Thomas Eakins House, Philadelphia, PA

2010
Mural Artist Training Program Show, Lincoln Financial Mural Arts Center at the Thomas Eakins House, Philadelphia, PA

2009
InLiquid’s 10th Anniversary Show, Gallery 543 at URBN, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition

Lincoln Today: Contemporary Freedoms of Expression, Lincoln 200:
The Bicentennial Festival, Philadelphia, PA
Juried Exhibition

2008
110th Annual Adult Members’ Exhibition, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA

2007
Fun-A-Day 3, The Artclash! Collective, Philadelphia, PA

2006
BFA Student Exhibition, Boston University, Commonwealth Gallery, Boston, MA

Juried Student Exhibition at 18 Tremont Street, Boston University Art League, Boston, MA
Juried Exhibition

College Art Association Undergraduate Show, 808 Gallery, Boston, MA
Juried Exhibition

2005
Self-Portraiture, Commonwealth Gallery, Boston, MA
Juried Exhibition

Galleria di Sotoportego, Venice, Italy