Mean Reds

Mean Reds is the solitary version of my project 'See. Feel. Move. Repeat.'

I create patterns through the repetition of an act. The nature of the repeated act is usually decided based upon if the feeling behind the repeated act. A positive or negative emotion. A creative or a destructive force. The Mean Reds series are based on negative emotion so therefore I was taking something from it, cutting into it, while the works I'd like to create with a base of positive emotion would be created by adding to them.

The paintings I make based on a negative emotion are made in a solitary mood. It is an outlet for a destructive emotion. The layers of paint are much like the layers off a personality, but these paintings are cut deep through the surface, revealing the inside. I’m a rather guarded person and I find it difficult to open up about myself, but sometimes things build up like in a pressure cooker and the emotions need to come out so I won’t explode. For many years those emotions have manifested themselves in destructive ways. My paintings are a way of trying to create something productive, while still releasing negative energy. It might sound contradictory, being reluctant to opening up about my darker side while still doing very personal art works, but in these paintings, I’m not opening up, I’m prying something open. That is what the cuts are for, because if I didn't pry something open to let something out I'd break, like the cracks in the surface of the paint.

We use art to say things we can’t say with words and I truly feel that I have found my voice with this.