artist statement

            Roads We Belong To is a physical embodiment of my summers throughout college spent road tripping the United States. These experiences traveling, camping, and learning about new places have consistently informed my work whenever I return home to Georgia.

            Memories traveling through these different places become a part of me and has led to this series of portraits, depicting the figure fused with the landscape. My goal is to communicate the connection humans have to nature by portraying the figure as the environment itself.

            Each figurative painting coincides with one of the states along my journey, including Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, and Florida. The paintings are exhibited in order as they appear on the map to guide viewers through a visual adaptation of one of my favorite road trip routes.

            The mixed media works represents the miscellany of new perspectives that I bring home with me after my travels. I often utilize unconventional “canvases” and different materials such as bark, repurposed textiles, and hand-knit fabrics sewn together, to evoke touch and introspection through a physically tactile surface. My main intent with using paint along with natural and found materials is to represent the conjunction of these diverse experiences while adding intimate layers to the story-telling aspect of my work.

            Roads We Belong To is an eclectic narrative of paintings that encompass thousands of miles of backroads, vast natural scenes, years of exploration, human connection, and the feeling of home on the road.