Arise A Rose, 2025-2026, Oil on Canvas, 6’ x 8’


Artist Statement:

This work cycles around the annual ritual of Mardi Gras. Each year, the reversal of order through costume, song, and spectacle is an absurd and cherished release from normal life. Friends and familiars fill these works: revelers who inspire with intention and impulse. In the studio, I balance material focus with spontaneous gestural abandon. This push and pull mimics the parades: at once overwhelming and intimate and so much better when I give myself over to the experience.

* In Praise of Folly, written by Desiderius Erasmus in 1511, is a satirical eulogy that suggests “folly” - play, irrationality, excess, and humor - is not simply foolishness, but something essential to human life.

in praise of Folly

Endymious in Yellow, 2025, Oil on Canvas, 4’ x 6’