Winged Victory (Work in Progress)

Artist Statement: “I’m a still life painter pulling together weird little clusters of objects that I’m thinking about, creating cross-sections of the everyday and intense fragments of personal narrative. I was initially inspired by Philadelphia as a much adored work in progress and an ever-growing construction zone. History is rising and falling all around me as my city grows above and underground, despite many potholes (that we’re all groaning over in Lyfts together) embedded in the layer between. I’m thinking about the ‘work in progress’ of queer experience, how queer people are subjects of national progress and debate at the dinner table, navigating and disrupting, sometimes visibly and other times not. We’re moving thoughtfully, strategically, and joyfully through old systems and structures designed to hold us. There’s victory, celebration, and sorting through some unlivable memories too. I’m out and living life to the fullest, joy un-squashed, and healing in leaps and bounds from what aims to keep me hidden. This piece features the Winged Victory of Samothrace from the cast collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Nike, the goddess represented in the original sculpture, personifies victory.”