Embedded and embodied experiences are what I seek in my work — a sense of connectedness with one’s own body, with others, and with larger structures. I make observational paintings depicting institutional interiors and abstract pieces that allow me to investigate the internal tensions and contradictions of working within educational institutions.
At a moment in which public education is highly contested, both threatened and threatening, we often see school furniture as a stand in for student bodies. I make observational paintings in public schools, teachers unions, and other bureaucratic spaces. The corners of desks, floor tiles, papers, and chairs are the focus of my attention. The slippery, textural paint application that I use to depict these hard surfaces alludes to the ways in which our idiosyncratic humanness can break through within the constraints of educational institutions. The brush strokes evoke the smudges and wear that the constant movement of people through these spaces creates. How can institutions, ostensibly designed to foster human development, become more fluid and responsive to those who inhabit them? What do we notice? What do we ignore? Where do we find margins, cuts, dents, or holes to operate within as humans?
My questioning eye turns inward in my abstract work. Through abstract painting I respond to the constraints of bureaucratic labor with play. The tension present in these compositions comes from an attempt to challenge my own intuition and to stay alert to the everyday conditions that shape me.
