Artist Statement

Although I think most of us unconsciously wear masks throughout our lives, my work primarily deals with the masks Southern females wear.

For the most part, we are taught to be kind, friendly and sincere. But we are also taught to hold our tongues, to suppress our true feelings in order to make others happy. We want others to be comfortable and at ease; no matter how uncomfortable that makes us. We also want them to like us.

But being too polite and suppressing emotions has its cost. Anger and resentment build up and eventually come out in ugly ways. We can compliment someone so convincingly in one breath, and then turn around and gossip about him or her in the next.

My images illustrate our good and evil sides colliding with each other. We attempt to keep our dark sides hidden, but they eventually reveal themselves.