Artist Statement
I am an American artist known for my large-scale, semi-abstract, vibrantly colored paintings.
I am inspired by the sense of urgency I feel given the rapid adoption of anthropocentrism and the number of species on the verge of extinction.
Through the vehicle of art, I shed light on current events, human states and endangered life profoundly impacted by technology and human behavior.
I interweave symbols with deep meanings referencing contemporary earth realities between layers of complex imagery, brilliant colors, and textures drawn from nature.
As an artist, I feel a deep responsibility to document today's world for future generations to learn from, but my immediate goal is to raise awareness, inspire change, and trigger action.
We live in an anthropocentric world where humans seem to assume that all non-human life exists to serve them. A time where humanity’s impact is so profound that it has altered the course of this earth and all life on it. A planet where so much exists in chaos and perpetual conflict, filtered by technology, driven by consumption, and littered with environmental, political, economic, and socio-cultural chaos, all of our own making.
The stories in my work reveal deep truths that are difficult to view in a positive light. I try to vibrate with the narrative that humans, nature and technology can coexist in balance.
Through research and outreach, I have learned that there is always light on the other side of the dark, hence my use of vibrant colors and bold shapes symbolizing hope.
Automatism plays a major role in the development of my first layers. Each piece is born from chance and accidental mark making, where gesture and improvisation gain free rein and help activate the substrate. As I find patterns, pull ideas, shapes, vibrant colors and symbolism, mixed media layers and innovative techniques coalesce with intention into a semi-abstract final work.
In my last layers I infuse clusters of organized symbols referencing biology, chemistry, alchemy, technology, mathematics, pop culture, indigenous and ancient cultures and icons of my own.
Taking the time to create these clusters allows me to distill and digest chaos and literally open up space to breathe within the work and myself.
The stories in my work reveal deep truths that are difficult to view in a positive light. I try to vibrate with the narrative that humans, nature and technology can coexist in balance.
Through research and outreach, I have learned that there is always light on the other side of the dark, hence my use of vibrant colors and bold shapes symbolizing hope.
Automatism plays a major role in the development of my first layers. Each piece is born from chance and accidental mark making, where gesture and improvisation gain free rein and help activate the substrate. As I find patterns, pull ideas, shapes, vibrant colors and symbolism, mixed media layers and innovative techniques coalesce with intention into a semi-abstract final work.
In my last layers I infuse clusters of organized symbols referencing biology, chemistry, alchemy, technology, mathematics, pop culture, indigenous and ancient cultures and icons of my own.
Taking the time to create these clusters allows me to distill and digest chaos and literally open up space to breathe within the work and myself.
Other sources:
Video on Antartic Melting
Most concerning Climate Change Issues
Reauthorize the End Trafficking of Wild Life Act
''And it's in that place of feeling the Earth's injuries, and feeling it with each other-that the alchemy emerges. It's in the cauldron of sharing our grief with our community, of gazing at it together and not looking away, that the heartbreak turns to hope. Hope, an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed. We struggle between two contrasting views of humanity: one driving to a technological endgame of artificially enhanced humans, the other enabling a sustainable future arising from our intrinsic connectedness with each other and the natural world."
- Jeremy Lent
"I always know what I want but I never know what it looks like.
All I know is that when a painting is finished,
something I can't describe in words vibrates and activates my spirit." -Tina
