Released Nov 2, 2023
Drop Structure
A Note From the Artist
The subject matter in my work for “The Days Of Our Death” finds me dealing with familiar themes of life, death and religion. I spent years living and working in funeral homes as a funeral director and embalmer and I've become quite familiar with all three subjects. In life we are trying to figure things out, what is real and what to believe. Through funerals we tend to celebrate not only someone dying but we also celebrate that person's life. Through religion we hope that our loved ones are in a better place, that they are not suffering anymore. My inspiration comes from many different sources: The German Expressionists, stained glass windows, Halloween, Southern folk art, funeral homes, horror films, music, lowbrow/outsider art, Religious icons, etc. I am always adding and subtracting ideas and colors to my work to make each piece have it's own story. I like to think that each painting is in some way a goodbye to somebody who passed away. These paintings are little funeral portraits.
About The Artist
I am a Pittsburgh born artist who received my BFA at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 2000. I focused on printmaking at the time which is where I learned about artists like Jose Guadalupe Posada and the German Expressionists like Kathe Kollwitz. After I finished school and returned home I did not have the necessary supplies to continue making my prints, so I turned to painting so I could keep making art. While I wanted to be an artist I felt having a day job that I found interesting was important. I had discovered that there was a mortuary school in Pittsburgh where I could get licensed as a funeral director/embalmer. I knew nothing about the business or what I was getting myself into. I went to school for a year and followed that up with an internship for another year. I learned how to do removals, embalm, do restorations, dress and casket people, do the cosmetics and assist on funerals. I continued to paint and made a lot of bad art. I eventually got a job as an embalmer out in Reading, PA in 2005. Between four locations we did 500 calls a year, so it was a busy time for me. The hard thing about being an embalmer is that you're on call when someone dies, so I spent a lot of time alone in my apartment waiting for the phone to ring. This is where I learned to craft my paintings and style. I thought back to my printmaking days in 2000 and how I loved the bold line work I was doing. So I started to paint in that style and things started to click for me. In 2006, a friend of mine put together a gallery show in Pittsburgh and included my paintings. I sold three the opening night and thought I'm doing something right. I've been working with galleries all over the U.S., Canada, Australia and the UK ever since.
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