Please Don't Let This End

PLEASE DON’T LET THIS END
In this project, the themes in my artist statement are expressed through an immersive installation of paintings and sculptures. Each artwork begins with a recent photograph from my life that is transformed and then printed. The color choice of the digital elements or additional materials in the artworks are based on the original photographs. The artworks explore the space between representation and abstraction similar to how memories are merged and recalled in half-forgotten and mystical ways. This is accomplished through the use of multiple layers that have openings or fissures to reveal lower strata. A distinctive feature of the artworks are the glittery garlands that drape the surfaces to create a party-like sentiment, or glittery gates to symbolize the semi-private situations in the photographs. In some works, text is added as a supplementary layer.

For my sculptures, photographs are printed on different fabrics and augmented with lighting systems. Please Don’t Let This End, is also a sculpture that is a light box using internal LED lighting and semi-opaque fabric with two images, one on each side. The image on one side is from a pride party in London and the other side are photographs fused together from several dance parties on a gay cruise. Mind Manifesting utilizes a distorted photograph from a walk I took in Central Park with a rope of light strung as a glowing barrier in front of the image. The last sculpture, Expanded Consciousness, is based on several images that were merged from a gay dance party held earlier this year in Brooklyn. It is printed on vinyl mesh and illuminated with lights from behind.

For my paintings, the photographs are taken from a variety of life events and printed on paper or canvas and then torn or cut. They are combined with paint, glitter, foil, paper, metal leaf, confetti and beads in liquefied emulsions that overflow, erupt and appear like multiple ejaculations on wood panels. The application of materials on the photographs is done intuitively over multiple sessions to allow each layer to dry before the next layer is added.