13 hands, oil on canvas, 60" x 68". 2026
Red Bird, oil on canvas, 62" x 68", 2023
Fighting History, oil on canvas, 62” x 68”, 2022
Merlin, oil on canvas, 30” x 24”, 2022
Winter Palace, oil on canvas, 24” x 20”, 2021
Sand Cat, oil on canvas, 24” x 20”, 2022
Empire, oil on canvas, 75" x 57", 2020
Cock, oil on canvas, 42 x 48, 2019
Louis, oil on canvas, 60 x 68, 2018
Louis XIV, oil on canvas, 42" x 48", 2017
George III, oil on canvas, 62" x 68", 2018
Silkie, oil on canvas, 48" x 60", 2017
Caesar, oil on canvas, 42" x 30", 2017
Gus, oil on canvas, 40" x 30", 2016
Jonathan Shapiro II, oil on canvas, 48" x 36", 2017
Jonathan Shapiro I, oil on canvas, 24 x 36, 2015
13 hands, oil on canvas, 60" x 68". 2026The painting appropriated in 12 Hands is taken from Benjamin West’s painting The Death of General Wolfe, which depicts a romanticized version of Wolfe’s death—a foundational myth in the colonial history of the creation of Canada as a nation—during the Battle of Quebec in 1759. In West’s painting, Wolfe swoons in a posture reminiscent of classical depictions of the Lamentation of Christ, a martyr sacrificing his life to “civilize” the British North. An Indigenous warrior appears as a passive, supporting figure, looking on at the scene. In fact, no Indigenous people fought alongside the British at the Battle of Quebec. Rather than viewing the war as a European struggle for a “New World,” Indigenous peoples saw it as an invasion of their ancestral homelands.My painting began with an image of my sister’s dog, Philip, sitting in this peculiar, almost human pose. I knew I wanted to place him as a counterpoint within a military painting. I like that his position subtly echoes—or parodies—General Wolfe’s. Cropping the painting shift the point of view to the dog and warrior’s, whose expression to my mind, suggests both perplexity and resignation. As I worked on the painting, I began to feel that Wolfe needed blue eye shadow and lipstick to emphasize the distinctly queeny, languid quality of his pose.
Red Bird, oil on canvas, 62" x 68", 2023Red Bird appropriates and crops a detail from François Gérard’s The Battle of Austerlitz (1810), currently housed at the Palace of Versailles. Of particular note are the legs of the rider in the upper right, identifiable as Napoleon. The source painting itself, and the history it represents, are not of primary interest for me; rather, the work began with a search for a compositional structure drawn from a historic battle scene. The removal—or draining—of meaning from this grandiose, mythologizing image is central to the work, opening a space in which to depict a tender encounter between an African wild dog and a Northern Cardinal. Where my practice typically engages a sly, subtly satirical register, despite myself this image emmerged with a more earnest, emotional tone.
Fighting History, oil on canvas, 62” x 68”, 2022Oil on canvas, 62” x 68”, 2022
Merlin, oil on canvas, 30” x 24”, 2022Oil on canvas, 30” x 24”, 2022
Winter Palace, oil on canvas, 24” x 20”, 2021oil on canvas, 24” x 20”, 2021
Sand Cat, oil on canvas, 24” x 20”, 2022Oil on canvas, 24” x 20”, 2022
Empire, oil on canvas, 75" x 57", 2020Oil on canvas, 75" x 57", 2020
Cock, oil on canvas, 42 x 48, 2019
Louis, oil on canvas, 60 x 68, 2018
Louis XIV, oil on canvas, 42" x 48", 2017
George III, oil on canvas, 62" x 68", 2018
Silkie, oil on canvas, 48" x 60", 2017
Caesar, oil on canvas, 42" x 30", 2017
Gus, oil on canvas, 40" x 30", 2016
Jonathan Shapiro II, oil on canvas, 48" x 36", 2017
Jonathan Shapiro I, oil on canvas, 24 x 36, 2015
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