“The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act.”
-Marcel Duchamp

The intersection of violence and humor creates an uncomfortable space. My work reflects that uneasy place where irony is forced into contact with the tragically sad. I think a great deal of tenderness can be found even (or especially) in those moments of self-conscious discomfort. Consider all the times you have been uncertain whether to laugh or cry. There is something profoundly vulnerable about people in those types of situations that I find endearing.

Likewise, there is something slightly unnerving about the ravenous consumption of knowledge by children. One needs only watch a child for a moment to realize how hungrily they devour the stimuli the world offers them. Growing and learning is a process as old and natural as anything but, as we all can attest, is not without its dangers. This recent suite of paintings means to depict the casualness with which children (we) interact with perilous knowledge, often simply unaware that there are more insidious things like assumptions and hidden agendas lurking behind “truth.” The glimpses of bright stripes lend levity to the moment and act as a counterweight to the otherwise somber tone.