SECRET SUBURBIA

ARTIST STATEMENT

My art takes an imaginative and critical view of life in suburbia. This work uses whimsical visuals and juxtaposes them with uncanny  images. 
After WWII, suburbia represented absolute luxury and the success of surviving the Great Depression. The nuclear family in their ‘cookie-cutter’ home was an image that the american population strived for. With this artwork I want to show that although the suburban town is perfect in appearance, there are underlying secrets and issues that lurk within the walls of each house. Class, gender, and racial disparity are among the many issues that have historically loomed over suburban neighborhoods.
I am influenced by  artist Leonard Koscianski and his works surrounding suburban toxicity. His use of colour and perspective are fresh and extremely expressive in themselves, and I strived to create something that gives the same effect. Artist Dan Attoe, and his compelling insights about human activity in small and isolated towns, also became inspiration for this project. 
In my artwork, one of the most important aspects is colour; the connotations it creates and how it makes the viewer feel and think. My vision was for the muted pastels and stormy sky to completely contrast the bright poisonous green leaking from the garage door. The contrast in colour embodies the contradiction of ideas behind the artwork. I use a higher perspective in the composition to further achieve the ‘uncanny’ element; something or someone watching from an unattainable distance. 
I purposely used varying techniques that both compliment and contrast each other to support the underlying juxtaposition of ideas. The dark and delicate clouds and the soft green grass are both of a ‘painterly’ style, with many visible small brush strokes. This contradicts the colour blocking of the houses, where light and shadow are very geometric. This disparity between hard and soft, dark and light, natural and unnatural, is the foundation of this project, and I expressed that through my varying techniques of application, as well as my experimentation with colour. 
Other than being a painting with underlying meaning, this project was my opportunity to reach out of my comfort zone and experiment. I created a narrative that I can personally relate to as someone who grew up in suburban neighborhoods. The foundation of this piece is the coexistence of hard and soft, dark and light, natural and unnatural. This is achieved through the varying techniques of paint application as well as specific palette choices.