Assistant Professor and
Foundations Coordinator, Studio Art

Current Research: I have been creating a body of work, Spectacle Spectacular that analyzes historical propaganda within fashion photography and its ability to cultivate a contemporary pop body image through consumerism. The work reflects shifts in women’s status while exploring issues of Vogue magazine, a powerful agent in changing and defining social roles demanded of women, from a twenty year time period: 1980-2000.

MFA University of California, Davis
BFA Kansas City Art Institute

Artist Statement :My current series, Spectacle Spectacular, utilizes as subject the fashion photography found in Vogue magazine, a powerful agent in changing and defining roles demanded of women. This creative investigation is representational of the power of fashion photography to cultivate "pop culture," or simulated, bodies and produced lives that are substitutes for the authentic. Fashion photography molds consumer behavior, specifically through fashion forecasting. The created illusions comprise a foray into premeditated, culture-defining consumerism. Embedded within the spectacle are ritual narratives featuring body projects (dieting, tanning, manicuring, etc.) that are capable of inspiring irresponsible behavior toward one's body for the sake of culture. The work reflects shifts in the status of women while exploring twenty-years (1980-2000) of American Vogue magazine.

I have surmised that present in Vogue magazine are female stereotypes constructed as balanced compositions of archetypes and prototypes, thus creating a compelling connection between that which resonates with our cultural identity and that which advertisers encourage us to pursue. The models collectively exist as a simulacrum of ideas and ideals of womanhood to be socialized within culture. The work of fashion photographers and editors relies on the design of basic shapes in set design and model positioning to prime the viewer to receive a multilayered message consisting of concepts and content. The compositions consist of elements that harmoniously and inconspicuously combine to buttress their messages.

Like the work of fashion photographers, my paintings employ the design of basic shapes to invite and comfort the viewer on a preconscious level. For example, I use the horizontal rectangle to create a sense of harmony, peace, and rest. However, in stark contrast to the fashion photographers' Gestalt compositions, the figurative compositions of my paintings use the same techniques to achieve the opposite effect - tension of shape, discordant compositional messages, and psychological unrest. Thus, messages and elements that were inconspicuous in the fashion magazine become obstacles with which the viewers must reconcile in my paintings.