Lately, I have been painting portraits of palm trees. To be specific, the sixteen most cold-hardy species of palm, as they are the most likely to survive the winters of Missouri, where I live. Each painting’s palette corresponds to the colors printed in the spreads of women’s clothing catalogs that have been delivered to my home, addressed to my wife.

This work explores the idea of monomania: an inordinate or obsessive interest in a single thing, idea, or subject. The multiplication of objects throughout the composition and from painting to painting references the speed and ease with which one can reproduce identical images in Photoshop. I am interested in performing software operations in the traditional medium of painting. I am inspired by drag-and-drop gestures in digital technology, the picture-within-a-picture found in FaceTime, iPhone homescreen images, and desktop arrangements on