Visual or verbal, narratives have always had imagery and I’ve always been inspired by the narrative’s ability to use imagery in the visual media. Images are never arbitrary but are chosen to suit the situations in the narrative. The image acts as a visual sign which implies cultural and connoted meaning. I am drawn to such images with semiotic value and appropriate and incorporate them into a montage. The world is a place where information in the form of imagery is so readily accessible and prevalent, that its hard to avoid appropriating ideas. So instead, I’ve embraced the idea of appropriation. And with the images I’ve gathered, I create visual stories.
When I create these visual stories I draw upon the influences of the traditional and contemporary modes of representation. I’ve been heavily influenced by the artists of the Northern Renaissance with their technical and symbolic prowess, but I’ve also been inspired by the hard edged composition, color usage, and application of appropriation of the popular culture by Pop artists. When these modes of representation are combined, the images find themselves juxtaposed which lends to connoted meaning that is needed to imply and move the visual story that I have set out to create on canvas. I see my narratives as a small example of the world I see that is constantly forming and reforming itself from a constant flux of influences and ideas that somehow coalesce to a perfect narrative .