ARTIST STATEMENT

PAINTING/ DRAWING

I have a strong interest in the portrait and its surroundings. In my paintings I emphasize how important it is to introduce the figure in a challenging space. The space around the portrait is just as important as the portrait itself. I investigate the division of the painting surface and the relationships of the figure to pulsating color and pattern enviroments. Ranging between abstraction and realism allows me to dissect each subject and offer a different view of the individual. My family, friends, fossils, African objects and the island environment I grew up in inform my art making. I seek not only to reveal who someone is in their environment, but also to examine in depth who they are underneath their skin. To me, they are powerful and striking individuals. I seek to expose their regal self. I convey the deep trust, acceptance and depth of our relationship.

COLLAGE

Like the paintings and drawings the collages are extremely personal, they adhere to the same rules of divisions and layering, but offer a different perspective. I can recall where I have found every piece of paper and I hide information within them. I prefer to use worn papers, which have been stepped on or damaged in any other way, it shows that they already had a history by the time I found them. They become locked diaries, in which they leave the viewer to appreciate the formal values and wonder about the undisclosed information inside. The letter collages turn literal words into shapes of color, and specific palettes and structures arrive in each letter. Each letter is aimed at a very specific being. Just like any letter, I think about what I want to say and who I am saying it to. I create a psychological portrait in which I explore a personal dialogue and the feelings a specific subject generates within me.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Animal Project

In my most recent project, The Animal Project, I place figures and animals sharing the same world. I think of the qualities of a specific animal and then shoot a figure who carries out a pose or action that relates to the animal. I paint the animal directly on the photograph by hand. I then re-shoot the photograph so there is no evidence of paint on the photograph. This gives the impression that the animal was there with the figure at the time of shooting. The photographs provide fun, unusual images that illustrate comical stories between figures and animals. They offer a new sense of reality that would not be achievable out in the real world.

Breast Project

I view The Breast Project as humorous, yet with serious overtones. These images are a response to the expectations put on women in the media today. I am fascinated by makeover reality TV shows in which the surgeon can be seen as an artist who shapes and moulds womens bodies into what is the ideal body type today. The surgeon becomes a sculptor and make-up artists become painters. In the making of these images, I relate to both of these, in that I am modifying body types. I paint and change my models to keep up with the ideals. I give them large breasts, large lips, long eyelashes, thin eyebrows; I cover them with make-up. However, the expected beauty does not surface. Instead, I am left with grotesque women who have lost their individuality and identity. These photographs question the ideal beauty proposed by popular culture and mock the expectations cultivated by the media.