Your work oscillates between the depiction of intimacy and violent animals, can you explain the connection?
Yeah, I’m sure I give people whiplash. But I swear the oscillation isn’t intentional at all. Going back to what I was saying with “relatability,” I’m only human. I have good days and I have bad days. I’m a sucker for figurative works so I guess the animals started appearing when I asked myself “What could be “figurative?” After that, I decided to challenge myself in creating my own lexicon and universe of what could be metaphorical and figurative.
But I’ve always been drawn to the idea of “intimacy.” When we hear that word, most of us default into thinking about something “spicy” or “physical”, which isn’t wrong! But intimacy is truly a TITANIC concept. It’s why there is a million-and-a-half love songs, poems, and films. Everyone on this fucking planet desires it. Whether romantically, platonically, culturally, and, as of recently, socially. This quiet yearning to connect with people is and forever will be one of the biggest driving forces of “intentionally living” for us, up until the sun burns out.
I don’t know exactly when the violent overtones started taking over my practice though. But I guarantee you, they started subconsciously clawing out in 2016. The creatures in my works manifested with sharper teeth, meaner eyes, and bathed in fire. Thinking back, they were at their highest in 2020 and it exhausted me. My headspace is impacted by my daily life. Like I said, I have good days and I have bad days.
