Laguna College of Art + Design

My thesis series is an exploration based off of personal and observed experiences.

It is an investigation into the relationship that modern man has with both the artificial

world he has created for himself and the surrounding natural world. I depict hypothetical

moments that exhibit the sense of an all-encompassing solitude a vast natural

environment has to offer. A dichotomy between the natural and the artificial has

manifested throughout this series. In these paintings I include modern day cultural

artifacts incongruent to these environments of seclusion that feel out of place, superficial,

and disruptive to the peaceful mood of the painting. In much of my work, a protagonist,

with whom I hope the viewer can empathize, is walking on the outskirts of civilization.

There, cheap and disposable objects from the culture that he is seeking a temporary

refuge from interrupt his solitude. For perhaps a brief moment at these places of solitude

outside of civilization one is confronted with the overwhelming vastness of one’s

surrounding environment. The awareness of something so infinite and powerful creates

an alternative to the chaos of modernity. Yet for only a fleeting moment is one able to

forget the petty worries and desires that this culture puts such importance on.