ArtPrize 2023: Places I Have Lived
"Places I Have Lived" was entered into ArtPrize 2023, and was on display at Harmony Brewing Company from September 14 - October 1, 2023. The essence of the illustrations remained the same for this exhibit, but I did make small modifications and updates here and there to ensure that all of the illustrations looked their best and were ready to face the public. I also opted for a solid colored background for each illustration instead of the textured swatch of color present in the original series, for a cleaner, refreshed, and more eye-catching aesthetic. This new, updated version of Places I Have Lived was printed (by LaFontsee Galleries on subtly textured fine art paper) and framed (by CustomPictureFrames.com) exclusively for ArtPrize. The pieces were listed for sale with AllArtWorks during the exhibition, and select pieces are now available here.
Artist Statement
As a medical illustrator, I strive to bring unseen or difficult-to-comprehend subjects into the everyday realm. To visually communicate these complex topics, I rely on precision, clarity, and scientific accuracy. My personal art practice applies similar principles to everydayness itself, drawing attention to the unnoticed beauty and detail in ordinary objects and environments. Aesthetically, I gravitate toward the chronological sequences and central compositions often present in medical illustrations; though not scientific in topic, the ordinary subjects depicted in this body of work are still displayed like medical specimens: cleanly illustrated against an unembellished background. However, where medical illustration demands exactness and structure, this work allows for more expression, dynamism, and color, while still capturing the proportion and essence of the subject.
"Places I Have Lived" is a series of eleven illustrations, one of each home I have lived in from 1992 to present (including my college dorm, a friend's live-in art studio, and other short-term residences). Unexpectedly, while I worked on each of these, I was able to get into the mindset of my own past selves. There were some homes that were difficult to illustrate because of negative feelings and memories attached to them, and others that I was able to give extra loving care and attention because of their associated nostalgia. Though it is up to date at present, technically this series will be in progress as long as I keep moving and until I unknowingly find the home where I will live for the rest of my life. I am certainly not the first person to illustrate houses, but these are uniquely mine.
