Influenced by the metaphysical gaze applied in the work of artist Georgio De Chirico, I aim to evoke a sense of disconnection while referencing reality in my paintings. Drawing inspiration from De Chirico’s use of exaggerated architecture, classical statues, and contrasting light, I explore the mysteries of inhabited spaces and play with the viewer’s perception of reality. The resulting, quiet feeling of isolation and removal is an experience to which I feel strongly connected.

To address my fear of solitude and transient spaces, I overlay a plastic sheen of comfort on my paintings and create a sense of longing with a distant horizon. With content sourced from a nostalgic richness of liminal spaces, video games, illustrated media, and personal symbology, I combine languages to heighten the mystery, satirizing both my generation’s escapist tendencies and the idealized lifestyles portrayed in media.

As for the structure of my work, I am inspired by the geometric shapes and mass of brutalist and American suburban architecture. I dissect my composition in convex and concave sectors. These sectors or miniature chambers act as nodes for the eye to jump between; descriptive and abstract barriers such as walls, windows, portals, stripes and squares of color populate the otherwise sparse spaces, responding to the composition intuitively, I use acrylic paint to quickly apply color and manipulate the medium to control the transparency and pattern which adds a vibrant energy, providing visual peace and a space to escape into another realm.

Similar to these marketed lifestyles of perfection and cleanliness, the spaces are cold and disconnected. At what point empty space brings fear instead of tranquility is core to my process. Existing in a time when most connections are made through a post-modern ‘hyper-reality’ physical isolation can feel more pronounced. instinctive color choices and small-scale recognizable symbols from fond memories enhance the emotional comfort of these disconnected spaces. meanwhile abstract elements like stripes and squares reinforce both impediment and desire. I hope to create works that give an area where the viewer may reflect on a longing for connection and plasticity.