I approach each image as a series of associative layers. It may begin with a feeling, or a specific landscape, which I then build out from, into, or on top of with a series of structural or topographic interventions. I invite the viewer to enter the space, while simultaneously presenting obstructions, creating a tension that both repels and attracts. On closer inspection, the spaces reveal themselves to be essentially unconquerable arenas.

Love is transcendent, it disrupts the alienation that so often characterizes life. Desire can bring meaning and purpose, but experiencing it is not without risk. In these interactions, imagination can blur reality. I’m interested in the ways that adults play, the cathartic potential of romance and power exchange, and the emotional results of escapism.

Growing up as a Romanian Orthodox minister’s daughter provided me with the opportunity to experience daily life as a fascinating paradox, observing things in their ecclesiastical functions as well as prosaic roles. I consider the deep reverence for and flippant disposal of the same object by meticulously painting mundane artifacts and found detritus. Sifting these objects through my perception and the slow process of painting allows me to exploit and retain their material qualities on the canvas.

Instinctual repetitive actions of layering, cutting, and rolling the paint . . . this laborious process of working becomes hidden with each additional layer of material, obscuring the actions before it, allowing only subtle cues to be seen in the end: hints of color, gentle textures, subtle brushstrokes. I consciously determine the layout of each piece, a simplified look from afar and a complex design from up close. In the end, the goal is not about making a painting, sculpture, or installation the final object, but rather about subtly exposing the process.

The contemporary landscape is an integral point of investigation in my work, particularly the way political and economic shifts inform the way we use the landscape. Natural disasters, droughts, sources of water, metropolises, athletic structures, industry, policy, crisis, and community are deciding factors in how we use and change our contemporary landscape. None of these changes occur without consequence, but in the moment most seem necessary. My intent is to highlight the necessity as well as the negative results within the landscape by way of painted materials.

Respite is a series of ink paintings
that attend to the subtle fickleness of life and the ephemerality of its passing. I contrast mundane moments with my grandmother’s fight with lung cancer, a parting that interrupted the pace of life. Ultimately, Respite serves as a remembrance, a sequence of fragments that resist the natural and automatic process of forgetting.

I conceive of my paintings, videos, and installations as narrative displays that situate the viewer in a position of estrangement, perplexity, and curiosity in order to open space for subsequent moments of reflection and introspection. Through my work, I present gags, vignettes, or situations that portray everyday scenes infused with a surreal, tragicomic atmosphere.

My work is an investigation of the physical and psychological effects of sensations related to touch and intimacy. The use of hyper-magnified human form induces an alternating sense of claustrophobia and desire. Moreover, largeness of scale is key in generating feelings of being surrounded by the overbearing presence of another human-like form, a presence that vacillates between the real and the abstract.

My work is about many different things: playfulness, invention, myth, sadness, abuse, tragedy, philosophy, delight, rage, dreams, loss, family, and religion. What I find most interesting is the breadth and structure of visual language, and how one can arrive at a personal dialect that evolves from the vernacular. I have developed and cultivated my own vocabulary by interacting with mentors and peers inside and outside academia, reading, daydreaming—stubbornly refusing to accept things without question.

This visual feast is a dark satire focused on political and historical events that have dictated how societies function. The method in my current body of work, Horror Vacui, is spontaneous and direct. I work best by allowing my subconscious to roam and freely manifest itself. The pens serve as sweeping brooms illustrating my thinking process. The results are often ambiguous narratives that are familiar, but very exaggerated.