Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.

I’m a Libra. I do a lot, and yet, not enough.

What are some recent, upcoming or current projects you are working on?

On April 25th and 26th of this year (the year of George Washington), I’m collaborating with some friends from a New York collective called Campus (comprising of Tashi Salsedo, Danka Latorre, and Drew Sedlacek) and a clothing brand from Toronto called Opus to put on a pop-up gallery show in Manhattan. I’m really excited to work with some fellow artists I really respect to put on something exciting that is working to mesh the DIY, fine-art, and art adjacent scenes into one space. We are making additional pieces from the show that include our friends’ objects into resin cubes (like Lola Dement Myers, Maya (StolenBesos), Jasmine Johnson, and Joi (FebruaryTrash) to name a few), that, “function as sculptural encapsulations, physical containers for the fleeting content, emotions, and ideas we encounter daily. Offering a tactile pause in the endless scroll, visualizing the mental clutter and emotional residue we carry with us.” 1

We are also hosting an after-party for our music-affiliated friends to perform at (Garett Caramel, Velvette Blue, Silicone Valley, Patch+, and Plastic Spirits). We need to bring fun back to the art world, and who doesn’t love a party? “At its core, the show is about being able to read and remix the culture we’re steeped in, to make sense of the noise and say something back. Because if you can’t read the room, you’ll never lead the room. These works ask what it means to be both observer and participant in the visual chaos around us, and how personal vision can emerge from collective overload.” 2

What is one of the bigger challenges you and/or other artists are struggling with these days and how do you see it developing?

I’ve come to realize there is something about me that tends to be a little off-putting. Maybe it’s because I’m young and hot and don’t necessarily take myself too seriously, but I’ve found that a lot of galleries I’ve been in talks with have ended up rejecting or being somewhat inappropriate with me once we start a dialogue. As much as this is obviously a negative in trying to get my career to move forward it’s probably one of those things that’s important in the long run, one of those stepping stones for greatness where the world hasn’t quite caught up with me yet, so in that sense I’m not too worried as I’m confident in my talent and future as a successful artist (too many people recognize this and tell me I’m doing the right thing that logically I’ll believe it instead of believing that everyone is lying to me out of pity).

How do you see your work evolving in parallel to things that are going on around you right now?

For as much horror, violence, and injustice that plague the world, someone is getting married, giving birth, or simply having the best day of their lives simultaneously. Joy and tragedy, beautiful and ugly, love and hate (thank you Freud), it’s all part of the same coin (Washington as the head and 1 of 50 states as the tail) that we place in the slots of our washing machine that the landlord eventually collects and places in an empty box of dryer sheets under decorative pine cones outside her apartment door.

Is there any source material you find extremely important?

Everything I consume or have consumed since I first gained unfiltered access to the internet as a child growing up in the mid-2000s. It all comes back up eventually, and being on Tumblr and Youtube at 12 years old and discovering LiveLeak late at night in my pink daisy-painted bedroom will always have an impact on my art and outlook on life. I have some weird fascination with gore and generally unsavory things that Freud could probably help me to unpack (I have his name tattooed on my left thigh and 5,102 pages of his complete works downloaded on my laptop that I haven’t updated since 2019 which allows me to still have access to all the creative cloud software from SAIC (shhhhhh don’t tell anyone) that definitely accounts for it’s lagging issues but think it’s too funny to ever delete so will remain in the clutter of my desktop that would probably give most people a panic attack because it is a jumble of screenshots, old homework, pictures of myself, and Columbine archives (and Freud of course).

Have you been reading or watching anything recently that you can’t stop thinking about?

Italian mythologized crime such as Giallo films (there is something about Iron Maiden playing mid blood bath scene that hits that sweet spot of cruelty and absurdity) and the writings of Carlo Emilio Gadda. I recently read ‘That Awful mess on Via Merulana’ and took extensive notes throughout but ended up giving up with 20 pages left out of three hundred and something. Gadda never finished this novel so I knew going into it there would be no resolution, and I think that did some number on me psychologically where I couldn’t finish either. I’ve also been keeping up with The White Lotus, and with the finale just releasing recently, I have been trying to abstain from consuming other television to keep the experience pure. I am a huge Survivor fan (Season 15 (China) is my favorite thanks to Courtney Yates), and try to watch the show through this lens. I also take notes while I watch, making sure to take notice of every little detail because I know Mike White loves to give us the answers to who will die if you just pay close enough attention. It really helps to get my detective brain working. I’m really proud of my findings from this most recent season, as I perfectly predicted it thanks to the book Chelsea was reading in an episode. It was by Rumi, who predicted his own death and is quoted as having said, “Our death is our wedding with eternity.” I made a Reddit post elaborating on my theory that this meant she and Rick would die together, and it being the only way for their love to be everlasting, and (of course) I was right. I still sobbed during the finale when this happened, just going to further prove White’s genius. He can give us the ending spelled out, and it still manages to hit us deeply. I want to have dinner with him and pick that Survivor finalist brain of his (I’m manifesting it).

Do you have any opinions on the amount of work being produced by artists in this current climate? How do you deal with this yourself?

I try not to think about it. Some people say I work slowly, others prolific; it’s all just comparison at the end of the day, and that’s the thief of joy, right?

What is your process like in terms of conceptualizing?

I like to think I’m some sort of detective or journalist, and that the crime map-like arrangement of girls on my wall (waiting to be painted) are all eventually connected, however disjointed it may feel, because it all is eventually.

Can you speak on the importance of accessibility and community in the Chicago artworld?

Some days I hate it here; other days I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else (these feelings fluctuate like the poles of extreme cold and heat). The art world in Chicago feels very small and tight-knit, which comes with its benefits and struggles. I feel as left out as I do well-known and supported around here but ultimately wouldn’t want to have found myself artistically anywhere else. There is something unexplainably special about being a Chicago-based artist, and I will forever be grateful for my time here.

Do you think your paintings might take on different contexts when shown in different areas of the world?

I’ve been really fascinated with true crime that takes place in Asia recently as I’ve been watching a lot of Stephanie Soo while I paint (murder is my favorite way to pass the time) so would be very interested in showing in either China, South Korea, or Japan where most of the cases I’ve been discovering take place. There are a lot of differences in the way both crime and beauty are handled and perceived, and I would be very curious as to how my obviously white-American-centric work dealing with such topics would be treated and responded to. I took Mandarin from kindergarten to 8th grade growing up (and have recently been trying to get back into and am surprising myself with how much I remember) so China or Taiwan would be where I would most prefer to show as I would probably be able to engage with people and their culture in a much more intimate way. I’ve been recently obsessed with Barbie Hsu (a beloved Taiwanese actress and talk show host I share a birthday with) who died earlier this year and her messy divorce from a billionare that feels very similar to the Amber Heard trial (I have watched hours of court footage and read through all the trial documents and can’t even get into all my thoughts and findings because I will begin a rant that never stops (just know I love Amber with all my heart; ‘All the Boys love Mandy Lane’ is my top movie on letterboxd)).

Do you think your relationship with the city of Chicago has influenced your work at all?

When it gets so cold, I tend to rarely leave my apartment and am painting all day, so yes. There’s a deeper answer to this question; I just can’t think of it right now and am ready for bed (I already washed my face).

What was the last show you saw that stuck out to you?

The last show I remember having a profound impact on me was the Joan Didion retrospective at the Hammer Museum in LA in 2023. Besides having my Favorite Cady Noland piece on display (the one with Patty Hearst (whose mugshot hangs on my wall next to a press photo of Sharon Tate (both gifted to me by ex lovers))), It is where I saw the last photo of Sharon Tate (Taken by Jay Sebring, her ex love, hair stylist, and fellow murder victim) with her pregnant belly center of frame. I have this photo printed out and taped to a piece of lined paper alongside a woman in military garb facing away from the camera blue taped to the outside of my studio wall under a pentagram I found in New Orleans. I’ve had this piece of paper since my last semester of school, where it hung in my Mclean studio as something to be painted but have since come to the conclusion it would be sacrilegious to do so as it is already perfect and has become some sort of totem to martyrs or whatever.

What are you really excited about right now?

Summer (I miss my freckles; they make me cuter).

In regards to your making, what is something that you’ve always wanted to do and are working towards achieving it?

I want my practice one day to expand beyond just the making of fine art and painting. Writing is something I tend to neglect but have always been equally as passionate about, and hope to one day publish a collection of essays. I also hope to get into the film industry and already have an idea for a movie I hope can actualize eventually and know I need to just bite the bullet and begin the script for already, but there isn’t really any rush for me. I’m confident I’ll get to this eventually, and it’s just a matter of everything falling into place and that insatiable urge taking over to the point where there are no other options besides getting it done. Additionally, I have an Amber Heard series that has been on my mind for well over a year (maybe even 2) at this point. Images of her brutalized body (obtained through legal transcripts) hang in a corner of my studio, waiting to someday be something. I know it’ll be a long project, so I’ve really just been waiting for its ideal form to come to my mind as I don’t think simply doing oil on linen paintings like the rest of my practice consists of is necessarily the correct path (but maybe it is, you’ll just have to wait and see).

Can you tell us a memory of someone interacting with your work that frequently crosses your mind?

I get a lot of hate on Tumblr, and it is honestly one of my biggest motivators. Anons spewing their deranged opinions tells me I’m doing something right. A lot of this came from my LikeLeak series (where I painted nudes from the 2014 Celebrity nude photo leak), with one person messaging me, “Do you really not see the issue with you digging up the nudes of people who never wanted the world to see them????? You don’t see how that’s immoral? Unkind? Normalising the horror of it? How very unnecessary it is? You can be an artist with shock value who doesn’t objectify the real events of sexual harassment that women have experienced, you realise?”3 My response was as follows, “I mean I know what your saying like I’ve obviously thought this over in my head a lot but to say it’s something I “dug up” ignores the historical factor of both the event and images which I’m aware are inherently immoral in origin and therefore impossible to escape. I guess I try and think about it through the lens of something like the rape of the sabines- to say that atrocity shouldn’t be documented is ultimately to deny it and allow for further perpetuation of actual atrocity. I don’t think my work is normalizing this behavior, I’d like to think it calls it out in a way- but you are correct in that there is inherently a martyr and for some reason I’m inherently drawn to this line of moral ambiguity and to tell you if figured it all out would be a lie.” 4 Being controversial has always been an important part of my practice and self image (because they’re already one in the same), and even though I haven’t quite figured out why this is so integral I’ll keep doing it because, like I said, it is important (maybe it feeling important is reason enough).

 

1 https://c4mpus.nyc/ | 2 https://c4mpus.nyc/ | 3 touchstonelevity.tumblr.com | 4 touchstonelevity.tumblr.com

 

Interview conducted and edited by Liam Owings