I am convinced that being an artist, even a painter of flowers in vases, is a political act. Thus my art confidently veers in to areas that are socially charged in an effort to open a dialogue via an art experience. For this show I’ve pulled together a thread in my practice that explores masculine motifs whose identities have evolved via the guise of a colorful costume. The motifs or characters that populate my work have been written in to our collective cultural psyche to the degree that their identity can be recognized even from a small part of their complete costume. Alas they are all men in suits.
As an artist, one of the more powerful tools in our kit, color, defines our work significantly, depending on how we employ it. In seeking to uncover the sources of discord in the world I have observed that historically, those in power have found a great usefulness and purpose in employing color. Some to achieve political gain through say the pageantry of flags and uniforms; others financial gain through brand identity. Within this collection of drawings and paintings then, my task has been two-fold, to reclaim the unconscious influences of color and to re-work it’s collective associations through a playful narrative. In this respect my gender stand- ins are in trouble. They know not how they got to be whom they are and are being set to perform tasks and roles that do not necessarily conform to their encoding.