Artist Statement
“Down the Rabbit Hole” is a theme that perfectly fits what I am striving to express in my artwork. We all go down many different rabbit holes in life. My rabbit hole may be chasing down material success or an “ideal” physical appearance. Sometimes I am racing dwindling time down the rabbit hole. It could be a trap, such as getting sucked into overeating, or the digital world. Perhaps it is a rabbit hole of depression and anxiety, trying to feel “normal,” or of doing too much to the point of becoming overwhelmed. The rabbit hole is a portal to a place that is difficult to get out of once you’ve fallen in.
On a personal level, my work reflects a need for self-acceptance and balance. Through the medium of oil paint on canvas or panel, I burrow into issues concerning societal and familial expectations, which have deeply affected my life’s journey. As I have reached midlife, I feel I am at another coming-of-age rite of passage, in which I still do not conform to what and where I am “supposed” to be. I missed some goal posts along the way such as marriage, children, a career, a house, and all the material trappings of a “successful” adult. I often feel like the White Rabbit, always late for life.
I am striving for a feeling of objects falling toward the viewer as they get pulled into a deep, spiraling hole. I exaggerate, elongate, and abstract forms as they get sucked deeper into the abyss. The long, narrow format and the round format used in my series of rabbit hole paintings emphasize this feeling. My use of rich, vibrant color is meant to evoke a shiny funhouse veneer that covers up the stress and anxiety of constantly trying to be something I am not. My goal is to give the viewer a sense of overwhelm and confusion by creating a surreal swirl of color, shape, and line. The White Rabbit succinctly embodies the hectic feeling of chasing something just out of reach. This is meant to echo the feeling of chasing the unattainable, unnecessary, or undesirable.