Lost and Found

My artistic practice is a fusion of contemporary portraiture mixed with an aesthetic awareness of our complex personal identity. Inspired by the notion that companionship and sense of belonging are vital to human happiness, my work addresses themes of aloneness where I try to find meaning and truth below the surface. I begin by building up the surface of the canvas with a contemporary portrait and found objects and then peel back the layers through physical deconstruction by sanding, carving, and detaching.

‘Lost and Found’ is a mixed-media portraiture series addressing my childhood experience of loneliness and imaginary relations. This work involved using old photographs from the 1940’s-1960’s found in various antique stores. Painting people whom I never met functioned as an allegory to my own past relationships. As I explored the concept of loneliness, I found that even through isolation, alienation and loneliness, people are still trying to communicate whether they know it or not. We all want to feel that we belong somehow. The series ‘Lost and Found’ allows the viewer, no matter how isolated they may be, to peel back their layers and feel that they can connect with any of the figures in the paintings and their stories.