I-IV
Acrylic on denim and fabric
Four 32×72 in. panels / 2017
V-VII
Acrylic, oil, instant photos, digital prints, fabric
Three 28×60 in. panels / 2018
- Ongoing, *2023
I-IV: Valence is a concept in chemistry concerning the power of any given element to bond with another. Under 100 natural elements have combined in various circumstances to create our known universe.
In the scope of our lives, we exist as these elements: singular entities thrust in to reality, seeking bonds with others to create greater, more complex and, hopefully, stable relationships as a foundation for balanced systems. Each of us living various states of being with means to share and desires to fulfill; a valence composed of physical structures and existential space, of lack and excess, of fear and love.
Valence I-IV is a meditation on human potential. We move through life with varying degrees of available energy; the truth of our being exists in the possibility of our collective endeavors. Discovering those truths is the essence of living in this world. During these times when systems of power would have us fear, distrust or commodify each other before finding common bonds, it is more important than ever to remember power through imagination, the honesty of creation, the art in balance; the potential of our valence.
V-VII: closeness is an evolving concept in the age of the internet, where tangible space is compromised and our notion of proximity becomes a scale based on the immediacy of appreciation for a social media post instead of how many miles may separate two people yet there is a different sense of closeness this effects as well–that of how a person interacts with themselves
there are many components of a personal identity which have become exponentially more complicated in a very short span of time (perhaps it is no coincidence that the world seems to be falling into a nervous breakdown as the internet has become a standard of life)
valence is a series that is rooted in connection and continues with a self-portrait in three half-frames about continuing to grow in the world as our social environments rapidly shift