Color in the paintings is essential to my voice as an artist; I see the beauty and power within heavy, saturated color and how it affects a painting. I use color as a way to express an emotion or feeling that can, in turn, invoke that same feeling in the viewer. Color is so effective as a form of expression because colors often have associated emotional qualities. The use of a cool-toned color palette can be associated with sorrow, whereas warm tones are often associated with contentment. The second key component in my work is my use of value: how I use lights and darks to create an image; how I show light and shadow on a figure; and how that can change the meaning of the image. How do dramatic shadows and brilliant lights affect your subconscious thoughts?

In my everyday life, I constantly think of things in visual terms. When I hear words, my subconscious processes them as visual pictures. This exhibition embodies how my brain thinks of things, and while I don’t always understand why I see things the way I do, my paintings embrace it. My decisions in creating my work always stem from “seeing it in my head”. When I paint, I start with a thought or a feeling, and my subconscious creates the image. I try to paint what my subconscious is visualizing.