fall and smile album

click on thumbnails below to view larger scale album

The pieces above are selections from two separate shows-- one called Falling/Flying at the Bee's Knees in Morrisville in winter 2005, and a show called Service with a Smile at Common Grounds in Montpelier in the winter of 2006.

It's pretty obvious which pieces are from which show. The Falling/Flying work for me is really about the mingled terror and freedom of letting yourself be yourself-- falling/flying in your love, on your favorite mountain, in your dreams and desires. The thing about both falling and flying is that they are inextricably linked.

I wrote the following about Service with a Smile:

"I have begun to explore the theme of expectation. That is, I processed through paint some ideas about who we are expected to be based on our roles at work, in our families, in our relationships. I thought a lot about different levels of authenticity and how well I conceal my impatience, anger, distrust, anxiety, joy.

"I was drawn to paint grimacing faces after one of my co-workers (I wait tables at a lovely brew pub) joked that she could tell I was frustrated because I was wearing one of my fake smiles. I tried that smile out later on in the mirror, and was mildly horrified by the plastic quality of my expression (and by plastic I don't mean malleable). In these paintings, I want to convey more than the cliché, "We all wear a mask." I want these paintings to poke a bit of fun at our facades, to revel in the discomfort and absurdity of trying to be who we aren't.  I  hope my work makes you question the plasticity of your own façade, making you think and giggle."