My work focuses on the construction of identity through our remembering and the mis-remembering of the past. Our conceptions of the past, whether vivid or distorted, form our current mythologies and perceptions of ourselves. My work questions how identity is constructed when memory is disconnected, repressed or absent. Some events of the past are stored as sensory fragments without a coherent narrative or semantic guide within the mind and held as body memory under the skin. I focus on how the body holds events from the past that cannot be expressed through language. Using the visual imagery of the figure, I am questioning whether tacit communication of the body is possible in my paintings.
In my work I am attempting to communicate this state of being beyond language and this state of being dissociated from language, the body and sense of self. The layering of imagery is a reoccurring element in my work, as the figures remain unresolved despite the attempts of reconstruction. This relates to the healing process that produces not only physical scaring but also involves the re-conception of self. The figures remain fragmented to communicate this state of experiencing multiple layers of memory that do not resolve into a coherent narrative required by society.