Self/Other
2017
36" X 80"
Acrylic and urethane paint, pumice, water-swellable clay, colored pencil, and graphite on paper
This painting metaphorically depicts the dangers of the self/other dualism that permeates particularly contemporary American culture. This binary, created by those in power and with privilege, artificially imposes boundaries between themselves and those considered “other,” outside of the realm of moral consideration.
When will we respond?
2017
3’ X 8’2”
Acrylic, urethane and beeswax paint, and colored pencil on paper
In this painting, I use cancer as metaphorical lens to look at the unchecked expansion of global capitalism. Cancer is defined as cell growth that fails to respond to signals that maintain the balance of cell proliferation and death. In this a macro scale, humans (largely from Western, colonial societies) are unresponsive to environmental signals indicating the extreme destruction caused by our profit-driven system. Spliced with an image of a mass grave of human and animal skeletons—coral reefs, elephants, fish, reptiles and others particularly threatened by human activity—the painting alludes to the destructive consequences of prioritizing profit growth over the health of the environment and those who depend on it for life. I exaggerate the size and weight of the cancer cells, expanding limitlessly beyond the frame, in comparison to the small, skeletal bodies, to point to this perverse imbalance in our values.
Look Close
2017
Each 5" X 3"
Oil on panel
These four paintings are part of a series that zoom in on details of the experiences of animals in confinement, and are intend to be intimate in their size. The one on the far left is of a cow's eye; the second, a chicken's foot; the third, a pig's mouth*; and the fourth, a diseased milking cow's nipple.