untitled

nostalgia,
corruption,
marginalization,
perversion,
purity,
naivete,
exclusion,
mourning,
fear.

10" x 10" oil on canvas 2007

andy

this is a portrait of my brother as a little boy. again, the work is very small, 12" x 12" (my favorite), encouraging intimacy with the viewer.
when i think of our childhoods, it is my brother's that was cut the shortest. this piece is offered as much as a token of understanding as it is a moment of mourning, and as a recognition of the struggle that takes place when trying to establish an identity other than "son", "brother", and "the oldest".

red shoes

12" x 12" oil on canvas 2207

still in love with painting on small canvases, and i'm so compelled by these images of obscured children. this series is moving pretty fast now.

Little Miss (portrait of Jon Benet Ramsey)

This painting was pretty hard to do. While I worked on it, I dealt with questions of appropriateness and sensitivity to the subject. It is a portrait of Jon Benet Ramsey. I, in no way, am extending judgement or condemnation toward her family. Rather, I wanted merely to remember her. Because of this, I have a hard time saying the painting is finished.
It is a sad story that was recently brought back in to the public eye through the strange and sick fascinations of John Mark Carr. I started thinking about the violence that beauty can provoke, even if that beauty is held by a child. With television shows like "To Catch a Predator", and the seeming rise in pedophilia in this country, I wanted to remember these victims as actual people... children, not a sound bite and piece of tragic entertainment.
As with the other portraits of children I've been working on, there are no eyes... no identity. Jon Benet Ramsey's identity has been robbed from her in more ways than one; and not only by her killer but by the media frenzy that ensued and clouded her little life with controversy, disputes about religion and parenting, and the pursuit of an unattainable ideal of beauty. Because of these things, she has become an icon in popular culture yet has somehow escaped receiving much representation in art. Again, this is an example of how our society does not view children as being "real" people who deserve a voice or even offer much interest in their emotions and inner-lives.


painting is oil on canvas, 12" x 12" 2007

ostriches are the best models...

The ostrich is the perfect subject for a painting. They’re tall, somewhat mysterious creatures that are just ugly enough to be interesting… just like most models. Unlike most models, they’re misunderstood.

Common knowledge would have us believe that they’re stupid. And maybe they are. It is in fact true that they have painfully tiny brains. However, that’s not why they’re believed to be an idiot bird. Most people believe that when an ostrich is threatened by a predator it is so scared that it sticks its head in the sand in an attempt to hide.

When I was as a child, I’d close my eyes when I got scared. I believed that if I couldn’t see what I was afraid of, it couldn’t see me either. I became invisible… not even God could see me.

Well, that isn’t what the ostrich is doing. If it was, they’d all be dead. The father ostrich is digging a hole for the mother ostrich’s eggs. They’re protecting they’re young.

Misunderstood. Not stupid.

I’m almost 27 and i'm still closing my eyes, shutting them tight against all the scary things that I don’t want to see and all the things and people that I don’t want to see me…

36" x 48", oil on canvas 2007

red dresses

10" x 10", oil on canvas 2007

two girls

this painting is very small (12" x 6"), and is so intimate. it is one of the smallest paintings i've ever done; which presented a new set of challenges and altered my process... but i love it. it feels precious, a little gem.