Pele Morta

         Pele Morta means Dead Skin in Brazilian Portuguese, and it can be commonly found in between keys of an old computer keyboard, telephones; in anything with crevices that was heavily used and eventually neglected.
      I see the constant cycle of creation and destruction in which humanity finds itself as truly fascinating, if not terrifying. I find inspiration in the human drive on the face of adversity, on the face of the absolute indifference of a mute natural world that is as hostile as it is fruitful. Throughout history we have done what we could to try to understand our physical and ontological reality - or at least desperately prove ourselves right when we thought we did. I see in that behavior a desperate clinginess to a  sense of safety that was often denied to us, and in our code there is an innate fear that or paralyzes us or propels us forward. These paintings are studies of the human drive and its complex nature of creation and destruction, in all its glory and toxicity, and of the beauty of the objects we left behind. I find the intensity, purpose and ambition encapsulated in these objects and scenes interesting and touching, even when I find the product of said ambition to be damaging.