LESSER SAINTS

My show Lesser Saints is coming up at one of my favorite galleries, Arch Enemy Arts gallery - www.archenemyarts.com - in Philadelphia! The show opens on September 4th and will be on view by appointment in person, as well as online.

The work created for this show is an ode to the animals of the world and our complicated relationship to them. Much of the work is about the ways in which animals are personified and objectified depending on their relationship to humanity. Cats and dogs, horses, vultures, snakes, and honey bees, all of these creatures are given value based on how they are viewed. Animals are turned into symbols of faith, fidelity, wisdom, lust or duplicity. What they represent and how they are valued determines whether they live or die; whether they are beloved pets, creatures to be consumed, or pests to be destroyed. This body of work portrays animals as martyrs, guides, and deities, a lexicon of saints un-celebrated and unknown.

In addition to the over arching theme, the imagery I am creating for the show has it’s own library of symbols similar to the suits of playing cards: Eyes, Hearts, Hands & Dreams.

In the work I am creating for “Lesser Saints” Eyes represent the Mind, Perception, Knowledge and Understanding. The paintings in the suit of Eyes have to do with how we perceive the world, as well as how we look inward and perceive ourselves. The Eye is a representation of Insight, both internally and externally, physically and spiritually. The Third Eye is representative of our ability to see beyond our mortal plane and our physical experience of the world, it is a metaphor for True Sight.

The suit of Hearts represents inherent Physicality, as well as Cycles, (Time, Life and Death, Growth and Decay). The Heart suit represents physical labor, persistence and dedication. it’s consistent beat is the soundtrack of our lives, and the push that drives our bodies. The Heart It is muscle and blood, the sacred Body bound to the realm of earth. The Heart also represents death, because with a Heart comes the certainty that one day it will beat for the last time.

The suit of Hands: I frequently use human hands in my work, often as a way of connecting animals to humans, a reminder of how we are animals ourselves, reliant on this planet and these bodies to survive. In my work for Lesser Saints the Hands repres… — The suit of Hands: I frequently use human hands in my work, often as a way of connecting animals to humans, a reminder of how we are animals ourselves, reliant on this planet and these bodies to survive. In my work for Lesser Saints the Hands represent our Connection to the world, the bonds that tie us to others, to places, objects and physical beings. Hands represent both generosity, the ability to give, as well as greed, the ability to take & harm.

The Suit of Dreams is represented visually in my work by Moths. The Suit of Dreams represents Aspirations and Nightmares, emotion distilled to it’s purest form, as well as distorted. Moths are guides through the darkness, drawn unerringly towards Light while living comfortably in the sacred Dark. dreams represent both subconscious chemical chaos, spiritual strength, and material hope.

Creation Process!