Artist Statement

    The value of an American worker has long since been measured in the value they provide in the swelling of a billionaire’s wallet. Manipulated and oppressed by the system, American laborers have been reduced to shells of themselves, their sole purpose to keep the machine running. My work picks up the broken narrative and reflects the modern effects of violent American Capitalism on the working class.

    Through lithography and bookbinding methods, my work represents American workers and their lives honestly, their struggles, sympathetically. By using slaughter farms and controversial livestock animals–pigs– to represent workers' simultaneous complacency and oppression, I can better reflect the oppression that capitalism is designed to perpetuate. Much like Sadie Goll, I emphasize the emotional expressions of these pigs, allowing the audience to see themselves in their reflective eyes. Printmaking evokes lustrous textures and expressive linework that is often a nod to the underlying exhaustion behind the pigs and slaughterhouse machinery. Inspired by Micheal Barnes surrealist landscapes and soft rendering, I make imagery that is hyperbole but is always reflective of the real emotions the working class experiences.

    Much of my inspiration comes from both observation and conversation. Inspired by Kelly and Kyle Phelps, ceramicists who depict American labor, my lithography book, Inheritance, was inspired by an inside wireman at IBEW 702, who described her life as, “Inherited labor, with no reward”, influencing my use of negative space, and rich values, illuminating how capitalism has structured her life. 

   Ultimately, my work is a wake-up call. One that seeks to reflect an emotion that the average laborer can resonate with, one that might inspire them to move beyond their slaughter, and promote resistance.