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This body of work was a departure from the abstract paintings I regularly make. In some way, I was making anti-paintings. By painting on top of photographic images printed onto canvas, I felt I was violating the integrity of both the photo and the painting itself. Ultimately, I came to understand that every piece had become an exercise in pushing paint in provocative ways, intersecting with the many layers of content inherent in the works.

I wanted to define and honor infidel-like behavior through the subversive physical choices in constructing the work, and also in the subject of the work -- which centers on women whose actions are contrary to what's considered usual feminine behavior. Such gestures included the use of photos as a replacement for painting, the usurpation of my family's narrative, and the depiction of blood spray as jewelery worn on outlaw wrists -- all of which claim authorship of beauty, decoration, or aesthetics. In some way I saw all these gestures as acts of defiance.