I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my body.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and Thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
But Thou art He that took me out of the womb; Thou didst make me hope upon my mother's breasts.
Psalm 22:14-15 & 9
The iconic figure of Mary Magdalene has been distorted, refashioned, and destabilized throughout the generations. She acts as a mirror for all women and a beacon of grace for humanity. In these paintings, my image is reflected in her mirror, distorted literally by mechanical reproduction, and metaphorically by the machinations of power structures. In this disfiguring, a space is created for an identity beyond the physical to emerge, the unfigurable presence of the spirit.
Realities shift and the ephemeral pervades as the gestural envelops the painterly; light emerges from darkness, materials undulate, and the face morphs into womb-like forms. Death and rebirth, sorrow and hope, destruction and regeneration, in their dialectic conflict, are embodied as characteristic moments of the human self and principal features of spirituality.
This muted cry of the human condition is a response to the injustices which manipulate and erode our identity, self-worth and dignity. I create work which seeks to renew our relationship with redeeming forces and powers beyond our capacities.