Sacrosanct Sandcastles

Exhibition dates: November 2 - 6, 2020




Prince Charming, Oil On Canvas, 62 x 47 inches, 2020


Her Influences, Their Imprints, Missouri Called But I Told Them To Leave A Message, Colored pencil, watercolor on watercolor paper, 12x24 inches, 2020


We Could Be Friends, Best Friends Even…, Charcoal and pastel on watercolor paper, 14 X 11 inches, 2020




Artist Statement


There is a rapturous reverence for the things that remind us of when we were young - for those days when life wasn’t so difficult and our worlds were only as large as our hometown. This sentimental innocence we cling to, even when we know that childhood was never as idyllic as it seemed on paper. Innocence as a concept has deep roots within the dark past of humanity; used as a tool to other, suppress, and justify atrocious behaviors towards other groups of people. Innocence set unrealistic standards upon children and their natural behaviors to conform them into our social hierarchy, underestimating a child’s natural ability to understand themselves and the world around them. The juxtaposition of the idealized child versus the real often changes how we treat the child in question, leading to behaviors such as othering or an inability to ‘handle’ a divergent child. Knowing that children rarely ever fit the mold we try to give them, why do we continue to do so? Why do we continue to yearn for this damaging and unrealistic ideal? The body of work deals with memory and escapism, as fantasy and reality were always a blurred line for me as I attempted to find ways to cope with being an outsider. These works are meant to challenge one’s own relationship with children and childhood and bring to light the complex nature of innocence within our lives.