GALLERY I: COMMEDIA dell'arte
SOCIAL CONCERNS
The paintings below tell about concerns and challenges that we as human beings face in our daily life. I use representational images to tell my stories. These stories are not linear extensions in time; rather, they focus on one crucial moment. Whatever happened earlier and is about to happen in the future is open to interpretation. The theatrical settings in these works are influenced in part by the figures and costumes of the European Commedia dell’arte, an old established form of improvisational theater. This is to distance the situations from actual life occurrences and give the ideas a sort of universal meaning. Every experience that is described in my paintings and prints is common; it can happen anytime, anywhere. Even though the pictures deal sometimes with the problematic elements in our lives, the message is mostly positive. There is joy in the bright colors, swift movements, and humorous staging. With that I intend to say that whatever may occur, life is worth living.