Headlands Center for the Arts

Artist Statement

Memes are increasingly part of my reality. Every morning I doom-scroll on Instagram and look at memes—my meme paintings are modern-day still-life paintings in this way. I see them as a form of documentation of the history we’re currently living through. Memes reveal the failing nature of capitalism and our society at large, and voice personal experiences and perspectives. This combination creates a familiar and relatable experience for the viewer. I am interested in painting memes because they are a growing form of reality, especially as we are going through the coronavirus pandemic and asked to stay in our homes every day. Our worlds become increasingly less physical and more digital—pre-pandemic included, but now more than ever.

While at Headlands

While at Headlands I will prepare for my shows in January 2021 at Night Gallery in Los Angeles and March 2021 at Evergold [Projects] gallery in San Francisco. I plan on creating two bodies of work. One body of work will be memes about coronavirus, depression, global warming, and cognitive dissonance. The other body of work will be based on a meditation practice during which I visualize my anxieties as demons, feed the demons nectar, then visualize a guardian. These demon/guardian paintings will illustrate my interest in self-help books, Buddhism, and pop psychology.