I am interested in the narrative and psychological nature of portraiture. Contemporary paintings of specific people simultaneously raise questions and offer clues about individual identity and the larger cultural context in which the subjects exist. My goal is not simply to show what a person looks like, but to examine, through subjective interpretation, who that person is, wants to be, has been. Often, the subjects’ material surroundings also reflect some aspect of personal desire or identity that is linked to the emotional underpinning of the portrait.

My current series focuses on men: an open-ended investigation of contemporary manhood, from this woman’s point of view. Who rejects toxic masculinity and who clings to it? Who embodies a more nurturing way of living in the world? How do boys absorb mixed cultural messages about how to be a man, here and now?