Many paintings in the VORE series reference objects and texts from seemingly disparate sources, from museum collections to exploitation films. Objects drawn into these paintings are from encyclopedic collections, specifically the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the British Museum, while the texts refer to titles and tag lines from “Cannibal Boom” films of the 1980’s, such as Cannibal Holocaust (1980), Cut and Run (1985) and Cannibal Ferox (1981). These elements are displayed hovering like holy icons, foreign and floating on the page. They dangle over seashores which rise up to consume, assimilate and aid in the fluidity of culture while the earth takes back and buries it’s histories. Patterned blankets showcase these housewares and opportunistic, gaping-mouthed predators congregate on the banks.

I work primarily on paper, utilizing many two-dimensional mediums on a single surface including oil, acrylic, gouache, color pencil, graphite, watercolor and ink. Although the work sometimes has the appearance of collage, because the styles and mediums vary so dramatically, the heavy-weight paper is entirely worked by hand. This process helps define my artistic role as a filter or translator, fully digesting my sources as a complication to the craft of appropriation.