Things: Recent Still Lifes
I utilize the genre of still life to explore issues related to beauty, nature and artifice, popular culture and my personal experiences. These paintings are on mid to large scale canvas (16” x 20” to 4ft x 5ft) created with acrylic, gouache, and photo collage. These works bridge my art of photo works which document 99 cents store objects and junk food placed within vividly psychedelic stylistic painting. The objects used are atypical. Instead of the conventional apples and oranges of Cezanne, I may use junk food, plastic fruit, tchotchkes, souvenirs and items obtained from 99 cents stores. I also use different foods such as raw meat, fried chicken, cake and pizza. Quite often, my work references my upbringing in the suburban New Jersey of the 70s. In this place, I have found a dystopia of broken promises – a land where modernity, comfort and technology helped to maintain the emptiness found within the banal and status quo.