Return to Sender

This project came into fruition after a lifetime of being personally impacted by modern day communication methods such as the postal service, email, texting, and social media. Even writing this now, intending for this text to be published on my website, gives me pause. Not only have I dealt with the consequences of miscommunication, but I have heard from other folks similar stories where instead of building on a relationship in-person, methods such as messaging through Facebook have destroyed connections either temporarily or long-term. 

 

While this work is extremely personal, as is most of the work I make, I know that common themes will resonate with a multitude of viewers. Intimate relationships whether with family or friends have twisted my life around, forcing me to analyze the things that made the relationship mesh in the first place. I am currently estranged from my older brother, my only living sibling, after he mailed a typed letter to my mother, cutting off their relationship, and simultaneously blocking me on Facebook. 

 

Although Brandon is 14 years older than me, and my half-brother, I grew up with him until I was around 12 when he got married. Brandon named me, taught me how to ride a bike when I was seven, and introduced me to the magic of films through his passion of filmmaking. These paintings and sculpture utilize the VHS tape as material or reference movies. Each movie that is focused on was impactful to me when I initially viewed it as a young person, and continues to find its way into my life and thoughts throughout adulthood.

 

Fragments from movie scenes and childhood photographs are fused together. Physically collaged to start as a reference point, then become larger scale oil paintings on canvas. The smaller paintings on wood are family photographs, simply put, but integrate the VHS tape reels. Those areas are inky, reflective black, soaking up the energy around them.