Snow Bunnies and Bandages - Artist Statement
Snow Bunnies and Bandages is my current collection of oil paintings developing the narrative of my playful cast of snow creatures. Staged in a bleak wintery landscape, the creatures explore cliché medical imagery. The works are influenced by vintage details and the scenes themselves are contained within vintage styled, handcrafted frames that I create.
In this series, my snow creatures are reflections of a specific experience. Two years ago, my brother underwent a lengthy emergency open-heart surgery to save his life and fix multiple organs. This series attempts to express themes of healing, gratitude, darkness, persistence, freedom, and love. The naïve use of cliché medical imagery is a reflection of the foreign nature of the medical field to me. The creatures use cliché tools in impossible ways, alluding, again, to the mystery in healing for me. Their innocence is meant to achieve humor and lightness.
The snowy blob like creatures share a vulnerable, somewhat fragile, quality, yet are assigned vital force in their existence. Because they seem to be made of snow, their existence is temporal. A communication to the viewer that they are experiencing a brief theatrical moment.
I create shaped boards to paint these scenes on. The shape and dimensions of each piece vary. The fluctuation in form allows for a less rigid environment for the characters and greater potential for their authority. The shapes are encased in handmade vintage styled frames I have created, unique to each piece. I believe this adds to the staged theatrical quality.
Snow Bunnies and Bandages series is in progress and has been created over the last year. The snow creatures, however, have populated my work for several years. This wintery series sends the snow creatures to explore themes around healing in a playful manner with a vintage sparkle.