Believing that figurative work has the ability to express identity by depicting the humor and pathos of the human condition, I use portraiture to explore the ongoing conflict of adhering to social norms across different social classes. I am interested in looking at the female body and how it navigates social spaces and the increasingly blurred boundaries between class and culture in contemporary society. The women in my artwork have droopy breasts, dangling cigarettes, and display their unabashed sexuality while striking classical art historical poses. These women are drinking cheap beer in cans while surrounded by working-class paraphernalia. At the same time, they inhabit beautiful interiors with lush plants, velvet drapery and animals suggesting a sophisticated lifestyle. I enjoy the juxtaposition of objects from high and low culture. I am interested in my position as a contemporary female artist and what it means to be a woman painting another woman, thereby taking back ownership of the female nude which was historically painted by male artists.

The male painter placed the female nude in enclosed domestic spaces, taking baths, sipping tea, and sitting on verandas. I am responding to the Western art historical tradition of depicting female subjects in the image of the male fantasy. At times my figures appear irreverent; at times they show off their nude pregnant bodies, once too grotesque for the male viewer. I seek to recreate the representation of women in confined domestic spaces and turn them into sites of female camaraderie, hedonism and empowerment.

• Heirloom Convoy
• LITTLE SPLINTERS: 2022 GRADUATE ALUMNI EXHIBITION
• Yeah, I’m Doing Great