My work is based on an interest in the prevalence of Individualism and the need to establish Identity in contemporary society. My thought process concerning western culture has led me to understand the human being as a self-aware species of animal having a preoccupation with immortality. Throughout history people have utilized religious, social, and personal constructs to guard against the prospects of death, mediocrity, and lack of purpose. This preoccupation seems to have been reinforced with the rapid advancement of technology and emphasis on pop culture in the last few decades, especially with the emergence of the internet, and sites like Myspace and Facebook. These sites seem to me to reflect the newest generation’s desire to establish Identity in a way that is quick, anonymous, and disposable.
I see Myspace as an intermediary to create artwork that anyone can relate to. I use traditional drawing media to render the “profile pics” of anonymous people on Myspace; then I post an image of each drawing on my own page and briefly inform the subject of what I have done via email. Their responses become part of the work. Through the process of meticulously reproducing each image, life size or larger, I reference the relationship of artist and patron in old-fashioned portraiture. This delicate sensibility to the craft of drawing acts as a counterbalance to the hasty and disposable nature of the snapshots on which the images are based. The act of raising the image to the status of an artwork reflects the narcissism of the subject and simultaneously calls my own vanity into question, possibly creating a two-way mirror for artist and subject.
born: 1982, Hamilton, OH
education
University of Cincinnati, MFA, expected 2009
Ohio Wesleyan University, BFA, 2005
selected awards/honors
First Place, Great Escapes Exhibition, Pendleton Gallery, 2008
Best of Show, Greater Hamilton Art Exhibition, Fitton Center for Creative Arts, 2006
selected publications
Manifest Gallery, 2007 International Drawing Annual Publication. Cincinnati, OH: Manifest Press p. 84, 2008
selected
solo or two-person exhibits
University of Cincinnati Clermont Art Gallery: Safely Anonymous, Clermont, OH, 2008
