Sweat equity: MFA Thesis - Painting & Drawing

Abstract

My work examines a voyeur culture preoccupied with sex, drama and the lives of others. It is not my intention to offer a representation of “reality”, but a simulation of an imagined actuality. The nature of this contradiction influences my painting process from conception to resolution. My paintings are simultaneously voyeuristic and participatory, erotic and sterile, stiff and fluid, analytic and absurd. I am aware of the dimensional limitations of traditional painting, and I believe the paintings’ audience is savvy as well, yet I urge the audience to believe these two dimensions to spill out of the hand-constructed wood panels. I self-consciously use paint to address painting’s history and the use of illusion to create dynamic spatial relationships on a flat surface. Through the use of trompe l’oeil and decorative painting techniques, I construct conceivable yet strange spaces while deconstructing the communal notion of a shared reality.