ABOUT
The human experience is something that is gifted to us only once. In our lifetimes we achieve wonderful things, experience tragedies, create memories, fight for change, and create unforgettable stories. These stories are something far more powerful than words are able to express, which is why I paint.
My work focuses on portraiture and the human figure, using painting as a way to convey powerful and complex emotions, telling stories through my immersive pieces about the queer community, diverse cultures, and immortalising those who have made a change, particularly those within the LGBTQ+ community. My current series explores the perseverance of the queer community throughout history. Despite society’s attempt at erasing our existence, we will always keep fighting back and always continue to persist. Authenticity and love are one of the highest forms of protest. Our visibility is political, which means our joy is power, our authenticity is resistance, and our love is essential. When I paint a portrait or a figure, I'm not just painting their story, I’m painting their presence and the impact that it made for the queer community to exist as we are now.
My process begins with stretching my own canvases, which contributes to all the hard work and dedication that goes into each piece. Building canvases is a way to begin the foundation of telling a powerful story. The piece starts with me, and it ends with me. I want my canvases to last throughout time, the same way that the stories I tell do. Working on a base wash of acrylic and then developing the subject matter in oil, they often incorporate modelling paste, cold wax, or fabric in order to create depth. All of this diligence creates stunning, immersive, and empowering pieces that truly bring the human experience and our stories to life. Even today, the fight for our rights continues and perhaps it always will. No matter how many people want to erase us and continue to try to, we will always fight back, we will always continue to exist and love the way that we are, because this is not a crime. Nor will we ever be.
