The Open Safe Painting

My paintings include hints of two-dimensional icons, stained glass windows, ceremonial objects, carnivalesque paraphernalia, dressmaker pattern pieces, and carefully designed altars. I see the work as functional and as such it may resemble a strange alchemical device, a crude vessel, a protective figure, a fortune teller, a shamanic robe, an asymmetrical mandala…all of which shepherd the process of transformation. I am inspired by the decadence of Art Deco; the hope and efficiency of Mid-Century aesthetics; the joining of texture, light and comfort in interior design; the riotous maximalism in haute couture; the rawness of tribal mark making; and the implied doorway to the unseen in esoteric symbology. All of these influences are cradled in deep investigations into color, particularly its role as a visual phenomenon and catalyst for sparking feeling and narrative. My work is collected worldwide and featured in collections and collaborations in Denver, Seattle, New York City, Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore, Nanjing, Dubai, Edinburgh, and Amsterdam among other places.