My current work is mixed media painting and drawing. I use acrylic, various markers, canvas, wood, and found objects. My subject matter is representational and “simplified” by employing flatness, symbols, and icons. I use a certain level of playfulness and whimsy to balance notions of darkness and irreverence.

As a vehicle of accessibility and a subtle rebellion to “high art,” I include elements of “low art” in my work: markers, craft brushes, bits of kitsch, urban culture, and popular culture. I also employ bits of “the decorative” for the same reason: wallpaper patterns, wood grain, animal print, interior design. I am disgusted with art’s tendency to alienate the viewer through disconnection. Even if the viewer does not recognize my contextual intentions, they will at least be able to connect with my work through recognition. Meeting this goal is important to me, and I consider it social responsibility.

My recent work involves animals and the intersection of the natural world with the man-made world. I have always been interested in biology and zoology, including notions of evolution and adaptation. I see animals in the human world in a state of adaptation, not necessarily displacement. I am very much interested in visions of animals “taking over” the human world. I portray animals occupying human spaces and use signifiers of the man-made: buildings, roads, signs, playgrounds, yards, interior spaces. Because these ideas are in the forefront of my mind, I am often reminded that humans are animals as well. But the fact that we have changed our environment to be so far from the natural is absurd and unsettling to me.

In my work I also explore this concept from the other side, examining humans incorporating “nature” into their modern existence. I ponder environments like aquariums, zoos and museum dioramas because they are spaces that exist for human consumption, but feature animals in their “natural” environment. I also ponder the static mode in which some animals exist in the human world: taxidermy, hides, skeletons, and animal prints. Nature portrayed through artifice is very attractive to me, and I always find myself drawn to it. It fascinates me because I think it’s function is to bring the look, the feel, the calming energy of nature into an incredibly non-natural environment, a human environment. It shows me the urges of humans as animals to reconnect with the natural world that they originated in. I believe these urges are innate and also ignored (or unrecognized); to me, this represents a huge displacement.