These are painted collages from Paint by Numbers imagery. I pull from 2-25 paintings to create each piece.

Paint by Numbers was invented at a time in America when there was a political system that couldn’t tolerate opposition. Much like today, the government recklessly preyed on people’s hatred for outsiders and people’s fear of losing their free. I see these paintings as a window into the culture of the early 1950’s as they talk about mindless conformity, mass culture and mechanical performance. They also describe the sense of uniformity and conformity that permeated America and its social norms at the time. The paintings “painted a picture” of idealized life that was unattainable by many people at the time. The imagery included dream vacation scenes, European Art, lovable animals and a sugar-coated reality.

I wanted to create a new context for the subjects of these paintings by transforming adorable animals into beautiful mutants and the pastoral landscapes backdrops into peculiar habitats. Their perceived freakishness no longer exists as they have found a safe zone.