PAINTING SERIES

TEXTS

Statement

My work is inspired by my own cultural and ancestral experiences.

I am interested in exploring the fusion of culture and media. Cultural identity is reflected in all of its external trappings and particularly, for my purposes, its myths and legends in modern art and design.

The proximity and variety of cultures results in interesting fusions and perhaps the need for clarifications of cultural identity and symbolism. My work explores the relationship and contrast between nature, history and politics. The result is a study in contrasts as each of the elements merge into an exploration of commonality in a multicultural context. Cultures are bleeding into each other and evolving into something new - while retaining significant elements of the original cultural identity.

As a visual artist my work explores these relationships. I am compelled to develop work that brings to light common interests like the beauty found in the environment and the discrepancies used in manipulated media images. I sometimes use performance art to challenge these morally ambiguous perceptions by stimulating dialogue with the public through the processes of art making and through public interactive participation. I apply my skill in working with metals, wood, fabric, food, paint and canvas, in combinations as required, to produce work which reflects and illustrates this cultural disconnect. Natural materials provide contrast between nature and our cultural constructs. I plan to continue building bodies of work examining the continuing development of our Canadian culture experimenting with diverse mediums, exploring the effect the media has on our culture with regards to consumerism and our environment. Through painting portraits or building installations my work illustrates these ideas about our community's development.