Brief Artist Statement
My practice is centered around real life situations where cultures and people negotiate their differences and where they enjoy overlap. In my Art practice, I call this intersectional surrealism. It’s surreal to me that we’re still struggling to look honestly at colonial world history and how that is/ was foundational to the nation we have inherited. I take my responsibility as witness, participant and occasionally benefactor of those structures seriously. But I identify most as a messenger and storyteller who colorfully tunes narratives to elicit evolution.
On canvases and panels I re-present the friction, remix the farse, and amplify the beauty of mutual support and sharing I see in my circle and in the world at large. My most consistent modes of production center on and around painting and drawing. The work is simultaneously steeped in contemporary culture and Art History. My figuratively anchored work is created with my own studio photography, found photos and layered with text, symbols or pop ephemera. My mark making creates tension through its combination of careful areas juxtaposed with raw energy. I am constantly searching for jolts of intersectional joy and the potential of equity and justice through pencil and paint.
Through cultural exchange and hybridization I foresee an energetic and empathy filled future. A difficult to achieve but necessary and infinitely scalable reality. All people need is examples of how to navigate the intersections in their reality. My work seeks to move all of us into those futures.
Artist CV
Education:
2002 MFA University of Colorado, Boulder
Emphasis: Painting and Drawing
1996 Dual BFA University of Arizona
Emphasis: Painting and Drawing/ Graphic Design and Illustration
Minor: Architecture and African American Studies
Solo Shows:
2015 “Small Works Show” at SIP Bar Brooklyn, NY
2012 “oneMAN Show” Rush Arts Gallery, Chelsea, NY
Selected Group Shows, Performances, Publications and Commissions:
2023 “Figures and Faces” Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
2022 “Grand Opening Taste of Brooklyn” - Live Painting and Exhibiting Painting - Porsche of Brooklyn, Industry City, Brooklyn
2022 “Kandy Kulture” Core Art Space Gallery, Lakewood, Colorado
2022 “Political Storm” Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna Beach, California
2022 “Hanuman Mural” Commission for Uptown Movement, Inwood, NY
2022 Remote Artist Talk/ Studio Visit with VA “At Risk Youth” Hosted by The Arts Center in Orange, Orange, VA
2022 “Smalls Holiday Show” Cedar Street Gallery, Honolulu, HI
2020-21 “Physical Culture” Instagram Live Interview Series, The Internet
2020 “Journeyman” Symbolist Portrait Commission Commission, New York, NY
2019 “Smalls Holiday Show” Cedar Street Gallery, Honolulu, HI
2019 “Summer Show” White Room Gallery, Long Island, NY
2019 “Comic Influenced’ Gestalt Projects Gallery, Santa Cruz , CA
2019 “Human Triage” Painting Published in Alluvian Magazine, Spring Issue
2019 “Sickness and Health” ABC No Rio at the at Bullet Space, NY
2018 “Pop Up Show” MAD Gallery, Chelsea NY
2018 “BAF Artists’ Group Show” Brooklyn Artist Fellowship Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2016 “Cartoons and Cereal” Image Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2016 Live Painting Performance at Crossfit South Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY
2015 “Perceptual Shift” Image Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2015 “Can You See NYC” Image Gallery Brooklyn, NY
2015 “Respond” Smack Mellon Gallery Brooklyn, NY
2014 “The Show” Crossfit South Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY
2014 “Surveillapacolypse” Five Myles Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2014 “Epilogue NYC” Auction/ Fund Raiser Performance Live Painting Mustang Sally’s, New York, NY
2014 “Freedom” Mural Commission Holbrook Long Island, NY
2013 “Rezist” Mural Commission Bronx Event Space NY
2013 “Sixty: The Collective” Rebar Brooklyn, NY
2013 “Muse NYC (Kings of Hip Hop)” Village Lantern NY
2011 “Hung, Hunk, Bulge” Painting Donation to Boys and Girls Club Auction, Long Island, NY
2010 “Tata Gala” Breast Cancer Benefit, Sarasota Design Center in Florida
2010 “Up Close” Brooklyn Art Gallery (BAG), Brooklyn NY
2009 “Hanahauoli Alumni Exhibition” Hanahauoli School, Honolulu HI
2008 “Black History Month Exhibition” Sole Food NYC, Chinatown NY
2007 “Up, Up and Away” Corridor Gallery, Brooklyn NY
2005 “History of Weightlifting Photo Exhibition” Arnold Classic Expo, Columbus, OH
2004 Commissioned Drawings, Cahill Gordon Law Firm, Downtown NY
2004 “Rush Arts at Phat Farm” Phat Farm, SOHO NY
2003 “Artist in the Marketplace” Semi-Finalist, Bronx Museum, NY
2002 “Penumbra, MFA Thesis Show” Main Gallery UC Boulder, Boulder CO
2002 “Be Heard” (in conjunction with Penumbra Exhibition) 2nd Annual Open Mike Poetry Night, Boulder CO - Performer, Organizer and Fund Raiser