Portfolios > Superhero

Comic books, television, and cartoons are forms of popular communication, with their iconic and linguistic codes inhabiting our collective memory. These codes are drawn upon as an oblique self-analysis into the construction of identity and the formation of self. They have shaped and formed how many people process information, fostering a positive commonality of experience.
The guise of the superhero, with all of its connotations of superhuman ability and anonymity, operates as a form of escapism; a deluded coping mechanism fabricated as the antithesis to everyday actions and behavior. The power fantasy inherent in the relationship between the superhero and adolescent male serves as a metaphor for the artistic process. Artistic goals and desires versus the reality and struggle to obtain these goals. The artist and superhero are the same, because they both feel “chosen”, with direction and a sense of purpose. The superhero operates dually as a form of self-mockery and as the ultimate shield against the fragility of existence.
The perception of the comic book reader is primarily one of an adolescent, introverted male. This generalization is not rejected; rather, it is used as a springboard for interpretation. Removed from the context of a narrative, words and images play off of this stereotype utilizing humor, self-deprecation, and formal abstraction as defense mechanisms to ultimately conceal specific issues of awkwardness, loneliness, insecurity, and social anxieties and pressures. Semi-autobiographical, the work is not the result of adult explorations into childhood experience, but rather how childhood experience affects my habits and behavior. Fear and anxiety are being projected into the work, as I attempt to reconcile my existence with inevitability.

Irascible
pencil, conte crayon on paper
27.75" x 39"
2008
Self Portrait As St. Jude Thaddeus
lithograph
22" x 15"
2008
The Big If
lithograph
18" x 24"
2008
Ennui
etching, aquatint
12" x 12"
2008
In Possession of A Great Unseen Mighty Force III
photopolymer gravure
15" x 11"
2007
The Poseable Ben Moreau With TV Remote
mixed media action figure
12" tall
2007
A Mandatory Juggernaut
etching, aquatint, photopolymer gravure
15" x 22"
2007
Just This Moment
lithograph
15" x 11"
2007
Air Guitar III
etching, aquatint
19.75" x 17.75"
2007
Air Guitar II
etching, aquatint
8.25" x 7"
2007
Air Guitar I
lithograph
15" x 22"
2006
The Grand Conjuration
lithograph
20" x 22"
2006
Fear and Wonder
lithograph
22" x 30"
2006
Built For Sin/Lost To Apathy
lithograph
12" x 13"
2005
Wish
lithograph
16" x 16"
2005
(Un)Breakable
lithograph
13" x 15"
2005
Beer Is My Spinach, Beer Is My Kryptonite
lithograph
14.75" x 14.75"
2005
The Reliable Disappointment
lithograph, colored pencil
15" x 15"
2005
Gibraltar
lithograph
18" x 14"
2005
Untitled
india ink on paper
30" x 22"
2007
Untitled
gouache on paper
20" x 20"
2007
Untitled
india ink on paper
30" x 22"
2007
Untitled
watercolor, india ink on paper
30" x 22"
2006
Untitled
watercolor on paper
30" x 22"
2004
Untitled
watercolor on paper
30" x 22"
2004
Untitled
watercolor on paper
30" x 22"
2004
Untitled
pencil on paper
10.5" x 9.5"
2004
Untitled
pencil on paper
10.5" x 9.5"
2004
Untitled
monotype, screenprint, relief, collage, india ink, enamel, acrylic
14" x 13.5"
2006
Untitled
monotype, screenprint, collage, india ink
14.5" x 14"
2006
Untitled
lithograph, monotype, screenprint, collage
15" x 13"
2006
Untitled
lithograph, monotype, screenprint, colored pencil
15" x 15"
2005
Untitled
monotype, etching, lithograph, collage, colored pencil
14" x 14"
2005
Untitled
lithograph, monotype, relief, collage, colored pencil
15" x 12"
2005
Untitled
lithograph, monotype, etching, collage
18" x 18"
2004
Untitled
lithograph, monotype, etching, blue india ink, collage
21" x 19"
2004
Evil Is Afoot (Up and At Them!)
etching, aquatint
13" x 13"
2004