Distant Relatives
(2020)
Created during the COVID-19 pandemic, these works explore social connection and loneliness through a combination of imagery taken from virtual gatherings and urban spaces. Some pieces are inspired by interactions over video conferencing, a digital tool that has became ubiquitous since the onset of the pandemic-related social distancing requirements. Other works use images from urban landscape (specifically New York City,) to speak to social and sensorial experiences while navigated public spaces. Does physical distance always create social distance? Do shared physical spaces automatically make us feels connected to those who share that space?
Each artwork is created using photo transfers of photography, acrylic paint, and paint markers. Overlapping, colorful outlines - many mirror reflections of the original photo - are a nod to my personal experiences with sensory and social overload (a common characteristic of autistic people.) I hope to use these mental and physical sensations as a metaphor for the unique nature of our social connections during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Remote Connection No. 6
Image Description: Vibrant color blocks and ghostly, overlapping lines on naturally-colored canvas depict a conversation on zoom. A large rectangle encompasses the photo of a bald white man with thickly framed glasses seen only from the chest up. The lower half of his face and his shoulders are covered by opaque light blue paint. Intertwining, multicolored outlines of the same man crowd the screen-shaped box. Beneath the man within the box are four small rectangles filled with blurry purples and blues. Paint drips of orange, magenta, light blue and navy fall from the bottom of the small boxes to the lower edge of the canvas.
Mixed media on unstretched canvas
21 by 24 inches
2020
Upward Carry
Image Description: A man in silhouette, seen from behind, carries his daughter up the stairs of a New York City subway station. The daughter’s head is only slightly seen over the man’s shoulder, while her feet hang at his sides. Depicted using photo transfer, paint and marker, the artwork creates a sense of movement through the overlapping black overlines of the figures’ ascension up the stairs. Lines of light blue, pink, and orange create painterly accents along the tiled side of the subway exit.
Mixed media on unstretched canvas
17 by 13 inches
2020
Remote Connection No. 9
Image Description: A vibrantly colorful mixed media artwork depicting a group meeting over zoom. On the bottom half, small squares containing multicolored, fragmented faces tightly surround the upside-down, and partly obscured image of a white woman, as she puts the weight of her chin on the palm of her hand. Above, colliding outlines of several people shown from just the shoulders up mix with the sideways drips of bright baby blue paint.
Mixed media on unstretched canvas
22 by 17 inches
2020
Remote Connection No. 1
Image Description: Within a screen-like box, a blonde-haired white woman’s head and shoulders appear in the lower part of the image, looking intently outward, as if she is looking into a computer camera. Her living room can been seen behind her, rendered in dark grey-blues, and punctuated by white outlines and small orange color block. The lower half of the woman’s face is obscured by a deep green cloud-like shape, leaving only her wide eyes and the top of her head visible. Laid over her face are multiple versions of her face outlines in white and light blue. Above the rectangle that encompasses the woman are four squares lightly painted in pink, orange, deep purple-blue.
Mixed media on unstretched canvas
17 by 22 inches
2020
Prince Street Huddle
Image Description: A blue-toned photo of two women in bulky winter coats and warm hats as they lean in close to each other. Seen from behind, they stand on the corner of Prince Street in Greenwich Village. A reflection of their image is layered over the photo in black and red outlines. Blue and pale orange paint create abstracted accents in the background of the photo.
Mixed media on unstretched canvas
17 by 13 inches
2020
Remote Connection No. 10
Image Description: A mixed media artwork expressing an overwhelming experience during a large group zoom call. In the top half, the image of a Iranian-American woman is partially obscured by a large maroon amorphous shape, and ghostly outlines of other people. Closing tightly around her are pieces of other faces trapped within small squares, twisting in orientation. Appearing like reflections in the bottom half, are the overlapping outlines of several people — shown only from the shoulders up — among colorful paint drips.
Mixed media on unstretched canvas
22 by 17 inches
2020
Remote Connection No. 4
Image Description: The color-altered photo of a short-haired Asian woman is shown from the shoulders up. The lower part of her face and her shoulders are painted over with maroon, so that only her eyes and top of her head can be seen. She appears within a screen-shaped box. As she looks into the computer camera, bookshelves - accented by yellow and pink outlines - are depicted in the background. Several other versions of her likeness are overlapping on top of her photo in outline only. Below the screen she’s within are four squares rendered in denim blue, light orange, and pink.
Mixed media on unstretched canvas
17 by 22 inches
2020
Bird Seed: Washington Square Park
Image Description: A photo of a man surrounded by pigeons in Washington Square Park is transferred onto the top left corner of a piece of canvas. Salmon pink and pale orange paint drips extend from the right side of the image. Outlined in white, blue, and fuchsia, a mirror-image of the man and flock of birds is placed in the bottom right side of the canvas, partially overlapping the photo.
Mixed media on unstretched canvas
17 by 22 inches
2020
Remote Connection No. 5
Image Description: A white woman with dark chin length hair, shown only from the shoulder up, is enclosed is a large rectangle that has deep red paint drip extending upwards from the top edge. Multiple versions of her are layered on top of one another - most are in outline only, along with a partially obscured photo of her in the background. In each likeness, she is using one of her hand to gesture while she talks or listens. To the right side and beneath the woman’s box are several colored rectangles filled and outlined with bold oranges, purples, blues, and pinks.
Mixed media on unstretched canvas
21 by 24 inches
2020
The Boxer
Image Description: Seen from behind, a person in dark pants and a brown waist-length coat walks down a city street with pink boxing gloves slung over their shoulder. They are outlined in painterly, dripping light orange paint. Following them closely is a mirror reflection of themselves in black and red outline with orange boxing gloves. The photo transferred image with paint and marker accents is sprinkled lightly with fuchsia dust, creating bursts of color on the right side of the image. Additional lines of light blue, pink, and bright orange bring out elements of the urban landscape in the background.
Mixed media on unstretched canvas
17 by 13 inches
2020
Remote Connection No. 8
Image Description: An abstract, cacophonous artwork reminiscent of a group video conference call, with colorful overlapping lines and fragmented faces. On the bottom half a Black American woman appears as a reflection in deep purple and blue, outlined in light blue, purple, pink and white. She is surrounded by fractured faces confined in small squares. In the top half of the image, the outline of several people intertwine in front of the grainy backdrop of a bedroom.
Mixed media on unstretched canvas
22 by 17 inches
2020
Remote Connection No. 3
Image Description: Placed on the bottom section of a piece of naturally-colored canvas is the photo of a Black American woman with shoulder-length hair and glasses, as seen on a zoom call - from the shoulders up only, with her cluttered office in the background. The lower half of her face, along with her shoulders, are covered by opaque dark blue-green paint. Layered on top of the photo are two more versions of the woman, in outline only - in each likeness, she gestures expressively with one of her hands. Orange, pale pink, and dark blue-green drip from the bottom edge of the screen-like rectangle that houses the woman. To the right is a multi-colored strip, running the length of the “screen.” On the top section of the canvas are four connected squares in a horizontal line, painted lightly in grey-purple, pale pink and light orange.
Mixed media on unstretched canvas
21 by 24 inches
2020
R Train Twist
Image Description: Intertwining black lines and bold blocks of color create an abstracted image of two seated subway passengers, seen only from the waist down. A photo in dark blues, bright reds, and pale oranges depicts the legs of a couple sitting on a subway car - the woman’s legs are tightly crossed and twisted around each other while she hold her phone at her lower chest. layered over the photo is the image repeated in black outline, as a reflection of itself. The overlapping lines and shapes make the original photo difficult to make out in detail, though the woman’s slightly curved ankle and white shoe, partnered with its black outlined reflection, are clearly seen in the bottom center of the artwork.
Mixed media on unstretched canvas
17 by 13 inches
2020
Remote Connection No. 7
Image Description: Intersecting depictions of a Japanese American woman with large glasses speaking on a zoom call are rendered within a screen-like rectangle in the bottom right section of a piece of canvas. Crisscrossing the images of the woman are dark blue-green, orange, and pink paint drips extending outward from the right side of her head and shoulders. Around the left side and top of the screen are turquoise rectangles accented by pink paint drips, blue are marron outline, and multicolored stripes.
Mixed media on unstretched canvas
21 by 24 inches
2020
