I make paintings based on contemporary mythologies. Mining the proliferation of images on the Internet, I select those that are rooted in spirituality, competition, masculinity, and patriotism. I grew up in a digitally filtered culture with an overwhelming fear of failure brought on by idealized imagery. The Internet, movies, video games, and cable television are my outlet, allowing me to vicariously experience everything I was too timid to try for myself. These paintings are pathetically immortalized stand-ins for all the things I never did or could ever do.