shop the

American Dreamscape

series

Work from my solo show in October 2020.

Artist Statement

This series of acrylic paintings documents real life and imagined scenery around the areas of Springfield, Missouri, in which I grew up. Through this work I am exploring how revisiting these neighborhoods as an adult affects my perception of my childhood and the disconnect between how I remember my upbringing compared to reality. 

The homes, stores and children represented in this series are views into what is often held in the highest regard in our society-- ownership, consumerism, youth-- and yet these things are portrayed as barriers to social mobility when applied to the poor. My work often focuses on these subjects because the childhood desire to leave a world of constant struggle and insecurity has imprinted itself permanently on my identity. 

I am influenced by American realist painters and movements such as the Ashcan artists and Edward Hopper. In the same way that these artists captured the modern actualities of American life in contrast to the aspirational images pervasive in our culture, I seek to represent my lived experiences as opposed to contrived settings that diminish the reality of life in America. This work is also influenced by the saturated colors and loud, flashy visuals of ad culture, television cartoons such as the Simpsons and King ofthe Hill and the plastic toys and trinkets that formulate my memory of childhood in the 1990s and Y2K. 

The bright colors in this series reflect a feeling of hope that any child who grew up poor might feel, a sentiment that society can quickly turn against a person who does not meet their nearly impossible standard. Hope can be a driving force to not give up, but it can also be debilitating if it goes unrealized.