ARTIST STATEMENT

As a young impressionable artist, I find influence just about anywhere: from a viral meme on twitter, an old postcard, a low-level Instagram artist, a true crime podcast, vintage travel posters, the impending end of the world, or household artist names I learn about in school. My art filters these influences through my vintage aesthetic and a humorous lens. I take my hobbies and interests and twist them into pieces that contain a sense of irony, but still have a certain pleasing visual attraction to them in their color and layout. Dark humor is a key element shown in my pieces to bring attention to social issues in a funny way. I want viewers to laugh but also encourage them to think about the deeper meaning behind their laughter. 

I use oil and acrylic paint to mimic retro and vintage graphic art that I have an affinity for aesthetically and compositionally. I paint on wood panels to imitate the rigidity and flatness of a billboard, metal sign, or movie poster. Using this graphic style makes my work more commercial than visceral, and in turn, approachable. My use of brighter colors and a more graphic approach puts the viewer in a mindset that my art belongs in public illustrations but the dark humor contrasts that.  

I research problems surfacing in the world and choose to display the problem in a satirical manner, leaving the viewer to see the problem in a different light than the media shows. Naturally, people or scenes from my life trickle into my work, giving my pieces a personal undertone of my own existence. I rely strongly on my creativity when creating art, making sure my idea is captivating and has motif before heading into the work. The painting should contain a strong message, even if it takes the viewer a second to comprehend. 

I draw inspiration from artists like Wayne White for his use of irony in his word paintings, Andy Warhol and his critique of contemporary society, and newer artists like Mauro C. Martinez who quite literally paints “meme culture”. 

Satire and irony have been proven to help people understand society and how it works. By using it in my art, I reveal the inconsistencies and anxieties of our times, and how what we desire, and how we live, is often absurd. My artwork captures these contradictions that society publishes as truth with my own authentic truth.