I paint realistic human figures, dolls, and toys set in real environments. The stories I offer are of intimacy and symbiosis between humans and inanimate objects that fill different kinds of voids. In contrast to traditional representations of solitude in art, I create paintings that depict dolls as human companions, preventing solitude from being absolute.
Dolls peacefully give in to their owner’s wishes. The psychological mechanism a child uses to communicate with their dolls may extend into adulthood, though for a different purpose, and may be analogous to an adult’s communication with a supernatural companion. To evoke human solitude, I find a connection in the person’s doll or other cherished objects that bring companionship, belonging, and well-being. Philosophers like Aristotle, Socrates, and Nietzsche attribute meaning to solitude as a source of inspiration, creativity, and critical thought.
I am not painting dolls, but portraits of absence, using them to fill gaps in people’s lives. The fact that the doll may outlast its owner shows the experience of aging and the temporality of human existence.
in one of my paintings, I depict an older adult with a doll. The artwork portrays the absence of her past role as a mother. I give dolls presence, expression, and a sense of fantasy, as if they were living beings. They witness life in different settings as quiet companions that sense their other half: the human being.
