In this series of paintings, I use the icon of the blackboard to reexamine some of what we know about a group of our most familiar historical figures, myths, and cultural phenomena. Our understanding of this should not stop at what we were told in elementary school.

The impetus for this series is my confusion when confronted with the discord between what we are taught and what seems to be the case. Or perhaps what we are not taught—our selective collective memory. It seems to parallel our personal efforts to control the story of our own lives and personas. I use incongruity and sometimes humor to encourage the viewer to reconsider . . . everything. Though these works are not actual blackboards, chalk and erasers are often provided, allowing viewers to add or delete information, rewriting history or providing their own. In the end, even in the gallery setting, the artist’s voice will not necessarily have the last say.