In a nation defined by the haves and have-nots, new IKEA stores coming to town, Starbucks coffee and strip malls, gentrification in all the growing cities becomes an issue important to the citizens who inhabit these places. On one side of the spectrum are the developers who look to “clean” up the overrun neighborhoods and make a profit from failed businesses and neighborhoods. Then there are anti-gentrification movements that are showing up in cities such as Los Angeles and Brooklyn, where local businesses and citizens are fighting to stay and preserve their identity and integrity. Somewhere in this mix are artists, who seem to coexist with one another.

My recent body of work represents this story by juxtaposing both parties in the habitat they are fighting for control over in San Antonio. The work not only exposes capitalism but also the idea of what high or low art is, and it investigates environments in which both need to survive and thrive.