AS AN ARTIST and individual I have always been concerned with themes of sexuality and spirituality, and through my narrative paintings of women I embrace and question this supposed dichotomy. My work also typically explores themes of voyeurism, vulnerability and identity.

I am concerned with defying stereotypes and obscuring the boundary between "high" and "low" art. I like to create a tension between the viewer as a voyeur and the viewer as a participant. I frequently make use of "masculine" imagery such as sports cars and urinals or give mundane objects a phallic connotation - this serves to emphasize the sexual undertone of the narratives.

I FEEL that contemporary American society places an unattainable amount of expectations on women; cinematography in particular often creates "superwomen" who are unnaturally beautiful, smart, talented, successful, and sexually gifted. However, due to time constraints as well as genetically determined physical and mental limitations, no real woman could ever possibly achieve equality with these fictitious idols.

While women have always been my chosen subject matter, I feel that my work simultaneously functions as a more general commentary on the dominant isolationist spirit of modern American culture. This is why I typically paint the figures by themselves. I prefer to place them within their own environments to emphasize their isolation.