Truth Beetle

Truth Beetle: acrylic on canvas. 12” x 12”

In this painting, a beetle with human arms and a mouth for a head flip off the symbol of the horned god. I painted this as a way to work out my emotions regarding artistic labor and vulnerability. Like the beetle, it takes perseverance, strength and hard work to create art that reflects what is in the soul. Artists use our hands to make this into a reality and make speaking our truth possible. In this case, the beetle’s entire head is devoted to speaking it’s truth despite the imposing masculine symbol looming above. It’s scary to be so publicly raw. But, the truth beetle shows us that it is possible to say “Fuck the man” and be our truest, most authentic, strange, genuine, and creative selves.

Jealousy

Jealousy: acrylic on canvas 20" x 20"

I wanted to create a thematic painting on jealousy. I used symbols of intelligence such as the third eye and the light bulb to represent the overthinking involved with this emotion. The hands peel the chest open to reveal a romantic fantasy in metallic, showing what we are often jealous of is an illusion of the mind. But that doesn't hinder the agony or the need to constantly feed into these thoughts. The breasts feed the illusion, the illusion has the power to turn off and on the mind's eye ultimately creating an infinite loop of jealousy.

Strawberry Moon

Strawberry Moon

Acrylic on canvas 4'x2'

This is a painting about the strength needed to overcome generational trauma. The strength is in the woman's direct gaze that forces the viewer to confront a violent history. She holds skulls like scales of justice in front of a full moon. The strawberry moon is the full moon that occurs in June, the month that celebrates the emancipation of American slaves. Lilies, a common funeral flower, pour from the skull mouths as a reminder that her ancestors had to fight to mourn their dead. That even in death, racism permeates.

Wanting The Evil Eye

Wanting the Evil Eye: Acrylic on canvas 3' x 4'

I've been playing with artistic symbolism. I wanted this painting to show that what we reach for (in this case, a string of evil eyes), often comes at a dangerous price. The Sea Witch swims to the bottom of the ocean to pull the beads of protection from the mouth of a female (denoted by the spine protruding from the head) angler fish. This scene shows that the fish could either chew the witch's arm off, or allow the protection beads to be taken. The choice of solidarity between animal and human hangs in the balance and is open for the viewer to decide the outcome.