The main inspiration behind my current body of work comes from an interest in people, psychology, and the way we interact and communicate. The "Ok to Disconnect" series is a social commentary that explores human connection and social interactions. Having grown up during the boom of cellular devices and smartphones, I have fully experienced the social changes that have accompanied it.  Having observed the evolution of conversation throughout my life, it has become apparent that the use of these mobile devices has transformed the way my generation interacts with one another in both social situations and everyday life, which is exactly what I wish to convey through my paintings.

The title for this series was inspired by the message that used to pop up on flip phones when they were done charging. After the cellphone was finally able to be unplugged, a message would appear that read “OK TO DISCONNECT,” but, ironically, the cellphone was not the only thing that was OK to disconnect. The detachment and disconnect caused by technology today is the major theme of my work. I investigate the tension between relationships in virtual realms and the corporeality in which we live and interact with one another. My paintings expose the dichotomy between the virtual and the real and how that affects our social skills and ability to be present in the moment, because what importance does one’s presence really have if their attention is somewhere else? More often than not, our attention lies in a world that does not exist in the physical present. 

With my paintings I engage viewers emotionally through the lack of a real space and the allusion to a virtual, nonexistent one. My paintings are all oil on canvas and feature realistic figures situated in a stark white background. I omit the background in order to monumentalize a private, trivial moment, bringing attention to an important contemporary social problem: the de-personalization of conversation, communication, and interaction. So often in life we strive to be included and avoid seclusion, yet despite this fear, our generation chooses to isolate ourselves.  Unfortunately, this shift in social behavior is hard to avoid, and we must address it if we hope to fix it.