Untitled

Untitled
2009
30×16
Acrylic, paper, pastel, marker on canvas

Katamari

“Katamari”
2009
210×48
Acrylic, charcoal, found objects, paper and pastel on board

Exhibited: “Large & In Charge,” Flax Gallery, Saint Louis

Statement:

“King of All Cosmos: My, Earth really is full of things!”

Wikipedia: “Katamari Damacy (塊魂, Katamari Damashii, lit. “Clump Spirit”) is a third-person puzzle-action video game that is published and developed by Namco for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It was first released in Japan, and then later in South Korea and North America. The game’s plot concerns a diminutive prince on a mission to rebuild the stars, constellations and Moon, which were accidentally destroyed by his father, the King of All Cosmos. This is achieved by rolling a magical, highly adhesive ball called a katamari around various locations, collecting increasingly larger objects, ranging from thumbtacks to people to mountains, until the ball has grown large enough to become a star. Katamari Damacy’s story, characters, and settings are bizarre and heavily stylized, rarely attempting any semblance of realism, though the brands and items used are based on those current in Japan during the game’s production.”

Photo by Jessica Burns.

Paper Stairs II

Paper Stairs II
2009
24×36
Acrylic, paper, pastel on canvas

Dining Room

Dining Room
2009
20×24
Acrylic, ink, marker, paper, and pastel on canvas.

Photo by David Burnett.

Pagoda

“Pagoda”
2009
36×36
Acrylic, charcoal, ink, paper, and pastel on canvas.

Painted live for Wall Ball 2009 to benefit St. Louis City Open Studio and Gallery.

Photos by Jason Lauderdale.

Paper Stairs

“Paper Stairs”
2008
24×26
Acrylic, charcoal, paper, and enamel on canvas.

Exhibited: Hoffmann LaChance Gallery, Saint Louis, to benefit Poetry Scores.

Photos by Chris King.

Divided We’re Dead

“Divided We’re Dead”
2008
36×24
Acrylic, ink, paper, and pastel on canvas.

Exhibited: Art Attack 2: Day of the Dead, to benefit KDHX, Saint Louis, 2009

The Watcher

“The Watcher”
2008
24×36
Acrylic, marker, paper, pastel, pencil and enamel on canvas.

Eat Rite

“Eat Right”
2008
16×20
Acrylic, ink, paper, pastel, and found objects on canvas.

Winter Is Over My Love

“Winter is Over, My Love”
2008
24×36
Acrylic, marker, paper, pastel, and enamel on canvas.

Art Attack

A Self-Inflicted King

“A Self-Inflicted King Makes an Offer to a Woman”
2007
24×24
Acrylic, paper and pastel on canvas.

White Box

“White Box”
2007
36×36
Acrylic, charcoal, ink, and paper on canvas.

A Young Woman Attempts to Order Her Mind

“A Young Woman Attempts to Order Her Mind for the Benefit of Those Around Her”
2007
24×24
Acrylic, ink, paper, and pencil on canvas.

City of Leaves

“City of Leaves 2: Orpheus & Eurydice”
2007
20×30
Acrylic, chalk, charcoal, and paper on Masonite.

Nine Muses

“Nine Muses”
2007
16×20, series of 9
Acrylic, paper, and pastel on canvas.

(Assembled thumbnails shown, click for complete images.)

Exhibited: Venus Envy St Louis, 2007

Statement (2007):

“They were generally represented as young, beautiful, modest virgins, were fond of solitude, and commonly appeared in different attire, according to the arts and sciences over which they presided.” -Lempiere, under Musae

I’m very inspired by urban landscapes and industrial settings, but I also find peace in nature, so I enjoy playing with the contrast of the natural and man made themes in my work. Most of my work also includes “found” items, another source of inspiration.

Additionally, I find ideas in the writing of others, as illustrated by the work on display here at Venus Envy. The idea for this series came while I was reading The Mantissa, a novel by John Fowles revolving around a writer’s conversation with his muse, who manifests in the form of Erato, the traditional Greek muse of erotic poetry. The issues set forth in the novel inspired me to question the nature of the muse figure in the work of female artists, and I began wondering: Are the traditional feminine muses applicable to my own work? As a woman, might I have a masculine equivalent as a muse figure? How might this be different for other female creatives? Do women relate to the concept of a muse- real or imagined- as something separate from themselves, or are they more inclined to find this inspiration internally? Do men inspire women? Do other women inspire women? Are women inspired internally? All of the above? Does it matter? In this work, I attempted to explore the potential of an inverse of the traditional cultural gender role of the feminine muse on the male artisan.

Each canvas in the series represents my interpretation of one of the nine Greek muses in masculine form. Although I feel that the series can be played with by arranging the canvases in different orders and configurations, here the canvases are arranged in three rows of three, with each row symbolizing a separate plain. The top row represents the heavens, including (left to right) Calliope, the muse of epic poetry and the chief of the muses, Clio, the muse of history, and Urania, the muse of astronomy. The center row represents the earth, including Euterpe, the muse of lyric song, Polyhymnia, the muse of sacred song, and Terpsichore, the muse of dance. Finally, the lowest row represents the underworld, including Thalia, the muse of comedy, Erato, the muse of erotic poetry, and Melpomene, the muse of tragedy.

Photos by Drew Jones.

Rainy St. Mark’s Square at Night

“Rainy St. Mark’s Square at Night”
2007
48×36
Acrylic, paper, and pastel on board.