City Folk

Paintings, various print media
2022 – ongoing

This series uses American folk vernacular to explore the contemporary political myth of cities as less virtuous than rural communities. Referencing quilting, city signage, and other public visual languages, the work considers how these derisive stereotypes exacerbate urban neglect.

I am interested in whose communities are considered natural and wholesome; how industrialization routinely uproots individuals at unprecedented rates; and how those (often, relatively privileged) people may impede others’ cultural traditions or fail to cultivate their own. How can we fulfill the promise of living together without erasing those who came before?