Artist Statement

I am a queer performance artist who uses objects, paintings, and video to explore identity, duality, and otherness. Ritualistic in nature, my performances juxtapose drag aesthetics, occult symbolism and horror movie tropes with the mundane in a process of self-imaging. My work is about the performativity of identity and how it relies on the constructed artifice (convincing or otherwise) of the images we project onto the world. In my paintings and objects, I focus on surfaces, questioning the role of surface, skin, and substrate in self-presentation. I often use sheer fabric for the substrate of my paintings, exposing the underlying structure and calling attention to the individual components. I create objects that can be activated in a performance or function as physical artifacts that refer back to a performance-based practice.

My recent body of work uses the myth of Frankenstein as a metaphor for the act of creation and a reference point for discussing queer identity and relationships. Through a visual interpretation of the Gothic novel, I explore the idea of the monster as a queer other and question the process of othering. Objects often appear in pairs, illustrating the dynamics of queer relationships.

Images of "the witch" recur in my work in the form of a solitary hand with acrylic nails. I draw on archetypal notions of the witch as a persecuted other and recast her as empowered figure who asserts will and intention. I use the icon of the hand as a symbol of magical intention, while drawing on its associations with artmaking, contemporary nail art, Abstract Expressionism, and spellcasting.

I am also interested in the archaic definition of the word glamour, which originally meant enchantment or magic, and the implications of this original meaning when applied to drag and queer aesthetics. In drag aesthetics, make-up, wigs, and clothing become the artifice that is used to cast a spell on the audience. By using materials such as nail polish and glitter, I aim to "cast glamour" through my work. In my mold made objects and altered found objects, I merge the glamour of drag aesthetics with Halloween kitsch. In a sense, Halloween is a queer holiday, providing a scenario for the heteronormative world to safely participate in “abnormal” fantasies. Heterosexual males are able to wear make-up, costumes, or even dresses without judgement—actions that would otherwise instigate homophobic ridicule from their peers. The parameters of Halloween deem strange, offensive, and “abnormal” behavior innocuous. Additionally, through Halloween, gruesome imagery rooted in the dark side of human nature is made palatable, comedic, and safe. The humor found in Halloween decoration provides a safe distance from the gruesomeness of the depictions. In my work, I draw on the queerness inherent in this neutered darkness. There is something queer about the space between the spooky and jocular.