Welcome to High Horse Territory. This is an unjust and lawless land where it’s necessary to display your weapons of beauty (real or fake) and ride into a storybook sunset to contend with the contemporary vision of femininity.
I have observed an increasing public ambivalence toward authenticity versus artificiality of the body and identity. I find it fascinating that American mainstream feminine beauty is at its highest form right before, or even after it tips over into garishness, repulsiveness, or even creepiness. This edge of confusion or uneasiness is where my interest lies with these paintings.
Over recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in acceptance, if not approval, to artificial or grotesque identities. I paint with eye-grabbing color, and use airbrush to mimic retouching in commercial photography. Certain sections of my paintings are straightforward and honest, or have a high level of finish. Other areas are vague, and vaporous to conceal supports, or are falling away to reveal seams, evidence of a cobbled together image.
I play with and exploit American female cultural stereotypes in my work, such as the Midwestern cowgirl, and the pageant queen. One seems more natural or “authentic”, while the other artificial and manufactured. The tension that is created from overlaying these types of characters mimics an inner struggle for feminine identity. One seems more natural or “authentic”, while the other artificial and manufactured. In reality both are equally as demanding, disciplinary, and American as the other. There is even ironic cross-pollination among the stereotypes, examples being the ‘spangled’ rodeo queen, or the parading child pageant contestant that invokes the sense she is the human equivalent of a show pony.
Accompanying my characters are elements of extravagant décor, disorienting lighting and color. In the past, I have worked at spectacle type environments like amusement parks and state fairs. I incorporate this type of enhanced space to parallel the spectacle of the enhanced body. This blended with parading horses ushers in a magical place that is almost storybook like. I believe adult feminine ideals are rooted very much in early exposure to fairytales and animated movies, and that these ideas are carried into adulthood.
In dissecting and critiquing the pursuit of a superficial beauty and equating it to making a spectacle of oneself atop a high horse, I cannot escape the draw of the fabricated appearance and I sympathize with its motives of personal pleasure and visual identity. I advocate an approach to personal identity that is multi-tiered, and believe that in present times authenticity need not rely on being naturalistic.
I have observed an increasing public ambivalence toward authenticity versus artificiality of the body and identity. I find it fascinating that American mainstream feminine beauty is at its highest form right before, or even after it tips over into garishness, repulsiveness, or even creepiness. This edge of confusion or uneasiness is where my interest lies with these paintings.
Over recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in acceptance, if not approval, to artificial or grotesque identities. I paint with eye-grabbing color, and use airbrush to mimic retouching in commercial photography. Certain sections of my paintings are straightforward and honest, or have a high level of finish. Other areas are vague, and vaporous to conceal supports, or are falling away to reveal seams, evidence of a cobbled together image.
I play with and exploit American female cultural stereotypes in my work, such as the Midwestern cowgirl, and the pageant queen. One seems more natural or “authentic”, while the other artificial and manufactured. The tension that is created from overlaying these types of characters mimics an inner struggle for feminine identity. One seems more natural or “authentic”, while the other artificial and manufactured. In reality both are equally as demanding, disciplinary, and American as the other. There is even ironic cross-pollination among the stereotypes, examples being the ‘spangled’ rodeo queen, or the parading child pageant contestant that invokes the sense she is the human equivalent of a show pony.
Accompanying my characters are elements of extravagant décor, disorienting lighting and color. In the past, I have worked at spectacle type environments like amusement parks and state fairs. I incorporate this type of enhanced space to parallel the spectacle of the enhanced body. This blended with parading horses ushers in a magical place that is almost storybook like. I believe adult feminine ideals are rooted very much in early exposure to fairytales and animated movies, and that these ideas are carried into adulthood.
In dissecting and critiquing the pursuit of a superficial beauty and equating it to making a spectacle of oneself atop a high horse, I cannot escape the draw of the fabricated appearance and I sympathize with its motives of personal pleasure and visual identity. I advocate an approach to personal identity that is multi-tiered, and believe that in present times authenticity need not rely on being naturalistic.
