This mural, entitled American Dream, is both a labor of love and respect for the disenfranchised, the oppressed, and the earth, as well as an exposure of the historical patterns of prejudice and xenophobia that feed into a corrupted capitalist agenda.

Afflicted by the devastation of COVID-19, however, this sudden change of tempo disrupted the continuance of American Dream as relocation, inaccessibility to facilities, and general unsettlement disturbed this process. Heartbroken, and grieving over the broken promise of a cancelled future and of the relentless work and passion invested in this piece, I sought consolation in oil paintings that I felt were able to address my inner turmoil and sorrow for the state the world was in. These pieces below press towards scribbled lines, psychedelic abstractions, and disjointed figures and spaces, reflecting the precariousness of this current situation.

Fueled with uncertainty, unease, and anxiety, these paintings draw from a sense of desperation to find solace in a world seemingly being torn to shreds and to reconnect those fragments in hopes for a remedy.

Originally intended to be an 8’ x 23’ mural to be displayed on a wall at the Mason Gross Galleries, it had to be torn into fragments when I lost access to facilities and resources due to COVID-19 shut-downs and complications. Apart from being proud of the new direction I took to complete a mural under limited resources, the redirection offered me a new perspective regarding life and art-making that inevitably influenced the piece itself. I realized that the reconstruction of the piece not only stems from the need to adjust to new circumstances, it reflects the persistence of the American struggle: perpetually reconstructing, adapting, and revolutionizing. 

Painted fragments are acrylic on paper, and are digitally composited together to make up the final piece.