Photography Statement

This series: “greetings from paradise”, is a collection of infrared photographs shot 

in cemeteries, images that are reminiscent of vintage postcards.  The titles are 

taken from missives found on the backs of these cards, as if the dead are 

communicating with those left behind.  Headstones and gravesites, the curious 

tributes placed upon them, evoke a memory album of a life.  I use infrared for the 

soft surreal quality it gives the image, reflecting the phantasmagorical aspect of the 

landscape in a cemetery. Infrared rays are the invisible rays of the spectrum, like 

the souls that inhabit these places that I choose to photograph. 

Classical images of beauty, angels in stone, glancing piously up to the heavens.  Inspiration for the included figurative images, alone in their space, thoughtful and at peace.

Painting Statement

 This current body of work is comprised of mixed media paintings and drawings. Thematically, I am exploring human emotions, specifically, moments of unguarded angst.  I am striving to capture a barely concealed instant of despair or pain that resonates with all of us.

The person we convey to the world is often a “created” image, one that has characteristics that are desirable, but not necessarily honest.  It is what we want our footprint of self to say to others.  In that “costume”,  intimate, more personal glimpses, slip into view, and we are caught “out” at the very times we are in the process of concealing.  A gaze, a turning away, can reveal raw emotions, as does a confrontational stare at a moment of insecurity.  What we use as a skin actually reveals more about us, and is apparent in body language, attitude and attire.   

The poses are often uncomfortably confrontational, reflecting the teenage angst experienced by so many young girls. Conformity collides with a need to feel unique and different in some special way. I strive to deliver a cryptic narrative to allow for a contradiction of intent, these girls all portray a certain strength of identity while still being seemingly very vulnerable. The space is purposely ambiguous, without specificity or reference. This allows for a timelessness for the viewer: one which creates the question of one’s place in the narrative; solely as an observer, or perhaps as a participant drawing upon personal experiences and expectations.