I research public and legal documents in hopes of finding positive social agreements that support ideas of egalitarianism and empowerment. The imagery I paint expresses the emotions and ideas held within these texts. I laser-cut the document text into each painting, transforming the paper into an object made of words. By using two strongly contrasting techniques, handmade and machine-made, the physical work reinforces the concept that sensory, emotive understanding is fundamentally connected to analytical logic. The final pieces are both objective and intimate, mechanical and intuitive.
My main objective is for people to question the social agreements they both voluntarily and unintentionally engage with in our society. While viewers initially respond to the emotion in the paintings, a closer inspection reveals the legible text. By combining language and emotional imagery, I invite the audience to join a conversation through whichever mode of communication they find most comfortable, ultimately aiming to promote dialogue and encourage empathy.