Pond Scum Meditation

My painting practice uses abstraction and mixed media to map the internal experience of trudging through contemporary anxiety. I'm interested in the physical gestures we use to navigate distress—both the self-destructive and the self-soothing—and how those movements can become their own language for expressing emotional states.

Pond Scum Meditation arose from, literally, staring at a weird gross pond and ruminating on my ensuing disgust and annoyance. The water feature was constructed—ironically developed over a previously untouched patch of nature—and then seemingly neglected. This created an environment both initially inorganic and also fiercely alive, with patches hosting mysterious riots of flora and fauna and reflections mirroring the surrounding city park environment. Paint layered over previously printed-on canvas and flowing forms contrasting with right-angular shapes turned into a beautiful meditation on this grotesque yet ebullient facsimile of the natural world.

12 x 12 inches

Thickness: 1.25″ (3.18 cm)

Acrylic on canvas