Breakaway

My work portrays resilient female figures in the face of oppression or defeat. Some of the figures serve as symbols of empowerment, as they reverse situations of powerlessness through their reckless actions, dominance over the landscape, and confrontational presence. Others reveal their vulnerability through mundane or awkward experiences, but combat their own weakness through the expressiveness of their gargantuan bodies and limbs.

I draw inspiration from ritual traditions and ancient female icons, such as the Oracle of Delphi from ancient Greece, the banshee from Irish folklore, and virgin sacrifices to chthonian spaces in ancient indigenous Central American cultures. In my work, I transform these women into contemporary reincarnations who express their feminine sensuality and emotion. The landscape also becomes a source of intensity, as the women in my work subjugate fiery horizons and volcanoes, reclaim wet, womb-like caverns, and retreat stealthily into the opening of a cave-like canopy. Imitating feline creatures and animal beasts through the expressions and positions of their bodies further strengthens their connection to the natural world. They embrace abjection as a reference to their own primitive mammalian functions, and defy male-centered anthropocentrism as the dominant means of establishing power.

Figurative painting serves as the conduit through which I render a primordial and contemporary female experience. Symbol is an essential component of my work, as mesh shirts and outrageous cheetah print dresses, jewelry with turtle or butterfly emblems, and posters from my own bedroom become references to the specific, modern experience of life as a young woman. I also experiment with stylization of the figure in this work, using the narrative of each painting to direct my decisions. While creating a more representational self-portrait solidifies the narrative in a specific moment and time, ambiguity may allow for a greater relationship between the viewer and the figure.

            I use this work to create an alternate reality where young women are liberated from experiences of helplessness and emboldened to expose their own weakness. I look to artists such as Ana Mendieta, Kiki Smith, and Jenny Saville, who deconstruct vulnerability and re-contextualize it as a structure for empowerment. My work establishes a relationship to these artists by celebrating the female experience and critiquing the limitations imposed on it by a patriarchal society. It is my hope that these paintings project my viewer and myself into a world of fearless, brave women, which can reveal truths about our own reality and encourage change.