ARTIST STATEMENT

In my work I investigate how submitting to fears contributes to irrational behaviors.  I myself am not immune to such fears and struggle with them often whether presently or retroactively.  In a way, my work serves as a support system allowing me to comfortably process fear within gender politics, identity, sex, familial relationships, and other "scripts" we believe we should live by.

My process is frequently sparked by disparities in certain artistic, social, and cultural voids experienced in my rural Nebraskan upbringing.  Much of my perspective has grown from leaving the Mid-west enabling me to view my influences with fresh eyes and a new awareness.

My work is derived from my exposure to fine art traditions in painting, sculpture, and installation to more technological arts such as animation, web, and video.  These broad areas allow me vast possibilities in creating my art.  I have created animated and live action video projections interacting with physical objects and paintings, inside jars, on foam sculpture, fur, magazine racks and more. Despite the medium, the majority of my work is kitschy, bright, colorful, flashy, and humorous with a dark side.

As my content, I strip down the general visual information from areas such as the mass media, pop culture, youtube or my own footage in hopes to expose a deeper irony existing underneath. I use time displacement, rotoscoping, compositing, interactivity and various other forms of manipulation to break down the message. I work the information to draw out those ironies and magnify possible hypocrisies residing in our ambivalent nature as a society. For example, I have used footage of dancing drunks, animals, pornography, and news broadcasts containing uncommon elements that unveil a twist in our interpretation of normal. Ultimately I prefer my messages are candy coated allowing us to laugh at our human nature, but also, and more importantly, to contemplate our strengths and weaknesses. 

Currently I am exploring my experience of pregnancy, problems in familial dynamics and ideas of immigration within one’s homeland.