Binocular Viewpoint Paintings

 In stuffed canvases shaped like a binocular’s viewpoint, I paint surreal characters who play out propaganda techniques and warped ideologies from the past and present. The main characters in this series are the Chattering Teeth which are based on the 1950s toy of the same name. These noise makers are up to no good, misdirecting and fuming nonsense. Humming from their vibrations, they churn inside fields of perceptual color built out of tiny marks of paint that transform into a merged color that is created only through its optical mixture in our eyeballs. Surrounding the Chattering Teeth are plants pulled from propaganda posters that advertised programs where the State became involved in policing pregnancy, dehumanization or creating a mythos around family. Some of these programs include the Lebensborn program (Germany), Operation Babylift (United States) and the One-Child policy (China). This addition to the work was prompted by the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Trapped in a voyeuristic viewpoint, these paintings are set in concentric textile frames that respond to the image within or further obstruct the viewer’s peripheral vision. Attuning us to this slippage of perspective, these paintings act as tools to see what’s affecting our vision.