My visual language focuses on the images and written vocabulary of my past utilizing elements of metaphor, icon, allegory, and sometimes satire to tell my stories. Although there are many symbols and references in my work that one may want me to explain, I would rather the viewer build their own story from the groundwork I have laid. Influenced by a wide range of genres and techniques, my main influences are the Flemish masters, the Mannerists, Pop Art, tattoos and urban graffiti. Intrigued with the conflicting images of women portrayed throughout art history and the multiple ubiquitous symbols women represent: mother, earth, nature and humanity; these are often interwoven throughout my paintings. I also often draw upon phrases from my own childhood, where nursery rhymes and familiar sayings carry conceptual meaning while adding an element of whimsy. Juxtaposing flat, graphic elements, like marker and spray paint with the textural, tactile painted surface I invite the viewer to ‘touch’ each painting visually, while attempting to create a seductive, personal surface quality. At the same time I deliberately try to create a space that is flat and ambiguous by creating a tension between the two and three-dimensional surfaces. I do this by approaching the canvas as a collage “placing” the painted, sprayed, drawn and/or printed elements “into” the space as “pieces” in a puzzle working in both harmony and opposition. Through a combination of techniques utilizing traditional oil, acrylic, spray paint, marker, and sometimes print matter, stories unfold from deep within my own consciousness, each relating to a memory, image or event that haunts and intrigues me.