My oil paintings encompass a wide range of subject matters and styles. However, if there is one thread that pulls my work together it is the idea of responding to, and expressing emotions and experiences, through painting. I am influenced by what I see in my everyday life. Mundane events, media, human desire, motivation, apathy, and helplessness are just some of the interconnected reasons to paint. The banality of the images depicted—sometimes in bright, saturated colors and other times faded and pale—become surrogate self-portraits, memories, and hopeful futures. This can take the form of a carefully staged still life representing identity, appropriated media images of idealized love and romantic relationships, or food that can give a sense of belonging, physical satisfaction, or contrarily, an invitation for discomfort and sweet temptations.