Description
One piece, unframed.
24 x 18 inch (h x w)
Acrylic on canvas
Artist Statement:
Swamprat is a mixed media piece on canvas. The prompt for this was simply the word “HOME”. There are so many meanings and complex ways to break this down, but my vision of kudzu and magnolia was all I could do to try and capture the meaning of Home. Magnolia trees were always a sign of the growth that follows a death, or many. This speaks to the cycles I’ve lived as a queer person in transition. Hearty and uncontrollable kudzu summons images of persevering through the changing landscape of queer and intersex rights.
Home is the place in which I reside. The ever-changing body my soul inhabits and the face I twist and contort to gently question it’s permanence. Home is the place I wander, the water-logged grounds that nurtured me in youth and the beings that also reside there. When I hear home, mosquitoes whine in my ears and the smell of honeysuckle fills my lungs. My body relaxes for just a moment – satisfied with the validity offered by that which cannot be described in binaries or limits.
Much of my portfolio speaks about home. The reality of growing up in a confusing queer body, but also the escape of the fantasy world of the swamp. I enjoy rendering fluffy haired, dark eyed, dark skinned people in dreamy landscapes.
