Bio

Artist Statement (2025)

I am exploring the satirical relationships between the living and the dead, and expressing it through the circus environment. My paintings are a continued investigation of death, using influences from Venetian theatre, specifically the Commedia dell’arte, and magic show posters. My work aims to explore my interpretations of death and have the viewer question their own.

At the center of my paintings are almost unrecognizable self-portraits using extreme angles and expressions. My paintings are populated with skeletons alongside portraits that interact with the living to create a performance. I am also experimenting with using tickets as a collage element to add to the chaos in the pieces. I want my paintings to make fun of themselves, using the skeleton and circus troops’ dynamics to reflect the energy of the macabre cartoons I loved as a child.

My prints are humorous vignettes of jesters playing various games I played in my childhood through mixed media reliefs and drypoints. I use loved ones in my prints to play on the debate of the jester and the fool, and to have the viewer become an active part of the games. I want to use these prints to act as both a “backstage” to the paintings, and to act as mature renditions of my sketchbooks.