The paintings that make up the series focus on haunting images set in a diseased world. Completely void of figures, the paintings present the viewer with unsettlingly empty spaces that feel post-apocalyptic. A gloved hand fuels a vehicle, a series of trash cans stand in an open field, a dining hall lays imprisoned behind a fence. Torn paper covers layers of the same image seen from different perspectives, all the while emulating the collapsing world. What are these scenes to us if they lack the makers of the scene? What do these man-made creations mean if man is removed?
The world is in chaos. The odd and mundane scenes I am painting take the world of the pandemic and rip apart the many layers tucked underneath. By layering a variety of different forms of paper I am infusing the work with nuanced messages. Sometimes the paper may be black and painted on with white paint, creating a world of inversion; other times it is the greasy paper of takeout bags, fusing the waste of an increased cultural activity with imagery of emptiness. Along with the repeated painted scenes on each layer of paper, text is spread throughout the paintings. From pages in a book to my own personal handwriting, these mutilated blurbs show both my understanding of society and the decay of it.