My concentration focuses on Tribal art: the traditional art of natives from tribal societies. Oceanic work is one of the earliest forms of art. Europeans settlers to our 21st century modern society have overlooked this genre of primitive artwork; in fact, Oceanic art has only recently been added to the AP Art History curriculum. Since the Oceanic people did not urbanize their environment, their first hand interpretation of the different forms of life--people, plants, and animals--that surrounded them is pristine and authentic. By incorporating Tribal art and the pure ripeness of the natural world within my pieces, I remind the viewer of the beauty of man’s natural habitat: nature.
My work repeats certain motifs and designs as Oceanic art repeats itself over time in order to emphasize the power of past art. Oceanic art also holds meaning to one’s lineage and ancestry, which shows the potency of the past. Likewise, I am repeating my past art, demonstrating the power of past motifs and patterns. My pieces combine the environment of the Oceanic people with their art in order to fully understand how nature dominated their way of life. My work completely separates the viewer from the urbanized and industrialized world to one in which nature prevails and is therefore the dominating force.
Like the Oceanic people who used their bodies as a medium for art, my photographic prints act as the body/medium ready to be adorned (or scarified) by white pen with symmetrical, hand-drawn designs that essentially illuminate and give my work power or mana.