Familiar
Familiar
Familiar captures simple moments around my home that have given me a reason to pause.
The work I made during my time in graduate school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln drastically shifted how I interact with space. I began paying very close attention to shifting light and color, and recognizing patterns from day to day. This intensity of observation has cast a new light on what should be a familiar place, my childhood home.
Upon moving back to St. Louis, I started to see this space with new eyes. Every home has its own rhythms and seasons. Unique reflections of color and reoccurring phenomenons of light I hadn’t noticed before surprise me as I relearn a place I’ve spent so much time in.
My paintings walk the line between expressing sensation and capturing the reality of the everyday. Each piece begins with an excitement about a specific formal quality—a shape of light, a hint of color, a repetition of form, or a composition of layered spaces. They are quiet, crisp, orderly, and controlled representations of places around my home, executed on an intimate scale in acrylic on panel.
Light and color are constantly shifting around us; they act as a reminder of the present moment, if we pause to observe it. Light that briefly touches a spot, shadows that stretch and disappear within minutes, and surprises of color catch my attention and my vision narrows. I idealize the scene through a distillation of form, a removal of imperfections, and a heightening of contrast. These compositional and design changes extend the brevity of the moment and hold the viewer in place before they snap back into seeing every detail.
My work encourages the viewer to slow down and recognize that these moments can be found within their own worlds.
