← Return to From Afar: 2020 Senior Art Exhibition
As both a painter and a photographer, my work covers a wide array of subject matter. In my paintings, I try to redefine how we think about still lifes. Taking an nontraditional approach, I paint foods in unique scale, perspective, and lighting in order to tell a story or portray a mood. The stories my still lifes reflect personal events or relationships from my own life without being straightforward. You may not know what the piece means just by looking at it; instead, you have to dig a little deeper and get to know me to understand. In order to create my compositions, I research color and symbolism, looking at what different colors and objects mean in various cultures and universally.
My photographs, meanwhile, tend to focus on portraiture. As with my paintings, I am drawn to unique lighting. I find there is so much power in the spaces where light pierces darkness, and I try to illuminate my subjects in these spaces. When I consider this effect, I think about perseverance—how we are all just trying to make it in this big, complicated world. As my practice continues, I hope my pieces grow more dramatic, complex, and tell a bigger story—the story of my life and how it is changing.