> WOMEN IN WHITE <

The Women in White/Bushwick Walls series was inspired by a desire to investigate the symbolism of the color white in several different contexts, while at the same time creating a connection to the “urban collage” that has manifested itself on the walls of buildings in my neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn.

While focusing on walls that were at one time white, “blank canvases”, I observed a fascinating build-up of signage, new and torn posters, random felt marker “tags”, stenciled street art, and more refined graffiti pieces that together formed a complex motif of cultural iconography. Tempered by peeling paint, rust stains, and decay, this motif served as the basis for my approach to creating “backgrounds” that interact with the subjects of the paintings in a very direct way, with fragments of political and pop culture references interwoven with warning signs, and spray-painted stencils. Graffiti-lettered words contain moral precepts which effuse hopefulness or cynicism – sometimes both - while in some cases bringing attention to the psychological relationships between the women themselves.

 All of the women in these paintings are clad in white, or mostly white, with the intention of examining popular connotations of this color such as purity, innocence, virginity, and virtue – qualities often traditionally ascribed to women as being positive attributes -  as well as lesser known meanings such as white as a symbol of mourning (particularly in Asian culture). This in turn led to a scrutiny of many “white” phrases including “white wash”, “white wedding”, and “white lie”, many of which ended up becoming words on “signs” that were collaged onto the canvas and eventually covered with layers of paint.

As the significance of “women in white” changed in context with each subject and contemplation continued of the  implications of attributing specific meaning to color,  I considered one important argument of basic color theory: white itself is technically not a color, but a reflection of all colors.