<br>This work uses the vintage board game Mousetrap to comment on Disney's trapping of the Star Wars franchise by forcing characters representing all of the Star Wars movies to play the game.<br>
This work depicts a Presidential talent show, with Bill Clinton receiving his scores for his saxophone judges, while Hillary (as a nutcracker) stands looking like a judge as well. The painting is really about two things. First, how we turn politics and campaigns into talent show contests, with the media/television personalities standing in as judges before we even get to the actual election. Secondly, it's called "America had Talent" because we always think past presidents were better than current ones. The greek vase in the center is a reminder that none of this is new, this type of treatment of leaders and elections has been going on for millennia. And the hydrangeas, as with all of the hydrangeas in my work, represent the transience of the situation depicted when placed in relevance to overall time.
<br>"America's Game," Like most artists, I strive to be relevant and reflective of our times, and there's nothing more timely than political elections. This painting is commenting on the game show-like nature of politics and how the candidates are more like contestants. So, I used a vintage board game version of the still popular Wheel of Fortune (called, "America's Game" by the show) to showcase the leading Democratic candidates of the 2020 election, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren. The 'Pat Sajak' and 'Vanna' of the game are America itself, represented by Uncle Sam and the Statue of Liberty. <br><br>
“I'm using Sesame Street and Muppet characters as metaphors for the internal struggle of 'growing up'. The David painting is not only a parallel of the conflict but it's also the key to understanding the deeper meaning of the main composition.” <br><br>
Sweet Symphony in Whites triptych and Sweet Symphony in Pink are inspired by James McNeill Whistler’s three symphony in white paintings. My paintings, like Whistler’s, have multiple layers of meaning. One is the use of a single color and its relative tones as the end intention of the work. By doing this with representational subject matter, the painting is attempting to bridge the modernist aesthetic of ‘art for art’s sake’ with traditional realism. On another level, as Whistler’s paintings have been interpreted as a loss of innocence, so too do mine deal with this loss. <br>There is the loss of innocence in Art from its classical representation in the form of the Venus de Milo to its scientific study in the form of Da Vinci’s Vitruvian man to its final manifestation as a commercial product/celebrity in the form of Andy Warhol and Elvis. Furthermore, there is the loss of innocence of the artist himself in the form of the action figure toys and sweets he had as a kid to play with and eat but now which are used as metaphors and painting subjects. Furthermore, the hydrangea, as in all my work, symbolizes the ephemerality of life. <br>
Sweet Symphony in Whites triptych and Sweet Symphony in Pink are inspired by James McNeill Whistler’s three symphony in white paintings. My paintings, like Whistler’s, have multiple layers of meaning. One is the use of a single color and its relative tones as the end intention of the work. By doing this with representational subject matter, the painting is attempting to bridge the modernist aesthetic of ‘art for art’s sake’ with traditional realism. On another level, as Whistler’s paintings have been interpreted as a loss of innocence, so too do mine deal with this loss. <br>There is the loss of innocence in Art from its classical representation in the form of the Venus de Milo to its scientific study in the form of Da Vinci’s Vitruvian man to its final manifestation as a commercial product/celebrity in the form of Andy Warhol and Elvis. Furthermore, there is the loss of innocence of the artist himself in the form of the action figure toys and sweets he had as a kid to play with and eat but now which are used as metaphors and painting subjects. Furthermore, the hydrangea, as in all my work, symbolizes the ephemerality of life. <br>
Sweet Symphony in Whites triptych and Sweet Symphony in Pink are inspired by James McNeill Whistler’s three symphony in white paintings. My paintings, like Whistler’s, have multiple layers of meaning. One is the use of a single color and its relative tones as the end intention of the work. By doing this with representational subject matter, the painting is attempting to bridge the modernist aesthetic of ‘art for art’s sake’ with traditional realism. On another level, as Whistler’s paintings have been interpreted as a loss of innocence, so too do mine deal with this loss. <br>There is the loss of innocence in Art from its classical representation in the form of the Venus de Milo to its scientific study in the form of Da Vinci’s Vitruvian man to its final manifestation as a commercial product/celebrity in the form of Andy Warhol and Elvis. Furthermore, there is the loss of innocence of the artist himself in the form of the action figure toys and sweets he had as a kid to play with and eat but now which are used as metaphors and painting subjects. Furthermore, the hydrangea, as in all my work, symbolizes the ephemerality of life. <br>