Artist Statement

I’ve always loved the Bayeux Tapestry. Despite its name, it is actually an embroidery, created in the 11th century to tell the story of conquest and war.

I’m captivated by what, to my modern eyes, feels almost whimsical in medieval art. Its simplified figures, strange proportions, patterns, and animals can make it difficult to fully grasp that these images represent real fear, death, and terrible violence.

Perhaps that is part of why I return to this imagery in my own paintings. It gives me a visual language for approaching difficult subjects without allowing the work to become overwhelmingly dark. I can place a young model within that history and ask serious questions while still maintaining a certain gentleness around her.

Here, a young girl sits before a medieval battle scene, holding a poker chip. The question is one of inheritance: what are we gambling with, and what are we leaving behind?

When violence becomes part of the story we pass from one generation to the next, our children inherit both the world we have made and the consequences of the risks we chose to take.