In drawing from the traditions of both the grand portrait and the DIY genre of decorative pattern painting, my paintings start in a place of “pretty.” The subjects have a dysfunctional relationship with their environment and are increasingly violated by garish color, rough texture, and a surface sediment of opulent, store-bought, celebratory trash. Inspired by holiday photographs, family portraits, and the materiality of disposable decor, my paintings create a space for residual family nostalgia, providing a sense of familiarity and terror.

People move from place to place for different reasons by chance, instinct, plan, or force. One element that remains constant during these transitions is that people transport objects with them. In my work I create ambiguous narratives that focus on the physical and psychological aspects of migration and displacement. The main subject matter is the container, in the form of crates, boxes, or luggage, and their scale is shifted to underscore their importance.

During a time of family loss, I made small-scale drawings and paintings of fragmented figures. Each part of the figure—the foot, for example—became a character for me. The characters, or rather I the painter, desired to recreate a state of wholeness. The more I tried to piece them back, the more impossible the task became. Eventually a narrative developed and my characters migrated into the landscapes I grew up in.