This series of mixed media drawings on fabric uses the French 18th century designs of Toile de Jouy as the starting point. I juxtapose a background narrative of a pastoral past populated by idyllic figures with a foreground of contemporary situations. Homelessness, gun violence, and other current controversies are in direct contrast to the nostalgic, sanitized, leisurely decorum of the historical toile patterns. The overlay of silhouettes and detailed renderings of figures inhabiting this fragmented world create visual commentaries on the contradictions, changes and complexities of contemporary life.
With undertones of foreboding, wanting and dismay, the works in this series delve into the world of reality and fantasy. Their visual irony compel the viewer to reflect on and reconsider the relationship between what remains, what is scrapped and what is made new in society’s collective consciousness.