Weird West (Current)
The American Southwest has long captivated my imagination. In 2011, I relocated to Arizona to pursue my master’s degree, and during my time there, I immersed myself in the quiet beauty of the landscape. While many perceive the desert as a lonely, barren place, I have always viewed it as a space of profound meditation, beauty, and spirituality. Historically, prophets and visionaries have found enlightenment in the solitude of the desert, and I, too, have been drawn to its quiet power.
My work reflects this exploration of spiritual isolation, using solitary and small groups of figures, expansive flat spaces, and vibrant, bold colors. These figures are often surrounded by surreal elements that exist between the realms of the physical and the metaphysical—an expression of the tension between the tangible world and the spiritual one. Following the death of my father in 2020, I began incorporating teardrops into my paintings as a means of processing grief and expressing my emotional journey. In many of my works, this symbol persists. What once signified sorrow has since evolved into a symbol of spiritual peace and healing, capturing the transformation of grief into renewal.
