Right To Left, Left To Right

This painting encompasses abstract and figurative portrayals that synthesize different traditions and genres while playing with identity and social order. The painting is part of a current series addressing white privilege in the context of social change, utilizing the colonizing imagery of vintage children's books as source material, which takes on new meaning through a contemporary context. 

The painting visually moves right to left, mirroring the process of creating, from one side to the other. In the center is the infamous image of Kyle Rittenhouse during the Kenosha, WI shooting, as he approaches the Kenosha Police with hands up and weapon slung around his torso. As he approaches the police, he is in the process of deciding which side to move, left or right. That perception from the police's perspective and that of the polarized political perspectives in the US is that of one side or the other. Incorporated in the painting is the Pepe with a red MAGA hat, signifying its appropriation by white supremacists. The children walking across the image also signify, based on the linear placement, that of marching as a unit, like that of the militarization of fringe, alt-right groups.