Statement

The dripping, crusty iridescent surfaces of my paintings are essential to their meaning and evidence of my improvisatory process. Scattered throughout the paintings are simple words, ranging in appearance from oversize bubble letters to writing that is nearly indecipherable. 

My use of text began two years ago with the words LOVE, MOM, DAD, YES and NO, echoing the first spoken words of a young child. The similarity is hardly surprising. At the time I was deep in the process of recalibrating my own identity after a recreational DNA test led me to the inadvertent discovery of a family secret. I learned that I had been raised on a mountain of falsehoods. As the initial shock settled, I realized in some ways I had been painting this story before I consciously knew it. It is reflected in the somewhat unmoored, girlish nature of my work where brightly colored anthropomorphic forms collapse and dissolve.

My paintings are filled with references to stereotypical girlhood (puffy flowers and picket fences), and imagery that suggests instability (faux masking tape, denim patches and broken planks). Recently, I have been painting my name, over and over again. Two short words, nearly synonymous with 20th century American normalcy. SEE JANE GO; EVERYTHING IS FINE. Sometimes I feel as if I am traveling back in time, trying to stitch together the pieces of a fractured past. What does it mean to have your identity changed by forces out of your control? Painting my name has been a way to re-anchor myself in the present. It is an act of self-definition and an assertion of my strength.