Chris's Artist Statement

They say a picture is worth a thousand words… I like to think of my works from life as my answer to a friend asking “What have you been up to?,”; illustrating every detail I can to show them what they may have missed while we were apart. This diaristic approach provides a trail for me to follow when I myself can no longer recall what I had seen, heard, or felt- providing a record of where I was then and where I am now.

My work revolves around and aims to challenge the manners by which society currently perceives the idea of self to propose a hidden world of beauty around us. In the process, I investigate how we can surpass our own limitations of who we believe should be presented to the world and the personas that we build. I draw upon the histories of illustration, surrealism, and representational art to contest and to rearrange how we see the ideas of gender and sexuality. Rooted in pleasure and aesthetics, the pieces I create are established within the tradition of symbolist art. In hopes of championing those who are typically overlooked in their positions along the binary we have placed upon life, I employ metaphor to dissolve the strict barricades of gender identity and politics. A tale is woven that leaves the viewer in a state of retrospection- utilizing my own experiences in the hopes of lighting a spark that causes the viewer to delve deeper into their interpretation of the world.