Artist Statement

I am a painter who uses the tradition of oil and acrylic painting as a gateway for exploring class consciousness. Growing up below the poverty line in the Missouri Ozarks, my aesthetic senses were shaped by the vivid colors of Tinker Bells, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, and Mountain Dew sodas. As a young woman with limited resources, my first lessons in color theory took place in the aisles of Sally Beauty stores.

College, which I attended on a running scholarship, was a crash course in class identity. The very symbols of my childhood, once sources of joy, became markers of a class I was supposed to leave behind. This realization sparked my journey, both as an artist moving out of poverty through my work and as a person grappling with internalized classism.

My work focuses on the intersection of class and gender, especially the unique burdens carried by poor women limited by their distance from societal standards of visual and cultural capital.

By blending the bold colors often dismissed as queer, feminine, or simply tasteless with the tradition of painting, I confront the divide between "high" and "low" culture. My work is as much a nod to pop culture and the fading trends of mass-produced goods as it is an exploration of contemporary painting techniques—seen through the lens of a childhood marred by poverty, reminiscent of the raw reality depicted in The Florida Project (2017).

Through this melding of themes, I weave a narrative that transcends class, gender, and the rural American experience, turning the incongruent into a bold, vibrant tapestry.