BACKDROP
2023 solo show of paintings and animation at Radiator Gallery, curated by Nat Roe.
VIDEO
Drift is a 9-minute animation that presents a seamless pan of Newtown Creek. The floating subject, made from trash and brought to life via stop motion, is at once constructed and discarded. Set to music by OHYUNG, it becomes a raft, a billboard, a scarecrow, a candy wrapper. (Excerpt below)
INSTALLATION
STATEMENT
BACKDROP is anchored by large, freestanding paintings constructed from reclaimed wood. The works function like stage sets, forming a broken panorama. The paintings depict theater architecture and waterways that border New York, invoking the Hudson River Valley School while playing with the genre of scenic painting.
Over the last decade, my work has focused on sites of conflict between human construction and the natural world, including flood zones, abandoned factories, and areas of desertification. BACKDROP deepens this investigation into my local ecosystem. In a city contending with rising waters, toxic air, and excessive waste, what role does landscape painting have to play? In an art context saturated by a kaleidoscope of content, what holds center stage?
CLIMATE IMPACT REPORT
I worked with Artists Commit to publish a Climate Impact Report for the exhibition.