"MJ" Painting

From the people that I have met in my life thus far, I find most of them to be multi-faceted individuals with complicated underlying intricacies. Art has allowed me to dig into these individuals subconscious without revealing in words their strife’s in life. I find myself choosing colors that not only accentuate my mood but also help me in defining my subjects, which then my hand naturally flows to. I believe people battle various obstacles throughout their lives. Some face their battles on a daily basis; some perhaps once in their lifetime while others choose to hide behind a mask. My paintings represent these very people that have managed to create a picturesque façade to “mask” their complicated lives. The subjects I choose are a clear representation of that mask but their intricacies and problems surface through my strokes and patterns made on the canvas.

From a very young age I was exposed to the hardships people must face in their lives. As an optimist, I almost refused to believe that they were true, until my life began to unfold and history started to repeat itself. In the fashion industry I met various individuals who have been successful at creating these masks to hide their insecurities. They are also using these masks to veil the ugliness embedded in the industry, which I find ultimately gives way to that same ugliness in their lives. I am simply using my art to go behind the mask to explore the different facets of these people. My perspective then is from the inside out.

I am an accomplished oil painter who has been studying the medium since the age of eight. I have expanded my medium to acrylic, spray paint and mixed media due to the love of texture and balance. Color and stroke have always been a great fascination of mine, which is also how I view the world. The repulsiveness and rawness of life is what I choose to slowly reveal through the beauty of stroke and color. My paintings are a juxtaposition of ideas-the blatant richness of beauty and the ugliness of which it can cause.