Democratizing the Collection 2019 -
For many years I have been drawn to photograph collections of objects and artifacts displayed in museums. In 2019 I began to make small paintings from this documentation. Selecting objects from a variety of places and collections, I soon realized the objects were innumerable and the series would have no end.
My intention is to make public and private collections accessible by replicating the objects for wider circulation through the act of painting. Working across collections rather than within their boundaries, novel patterns of organization emerge in a new conceptual space. My painted portraits of objects attempt to defy the privilege of access, to ‘democratize’ the collections by making the contents more available than their location (museum, gallery, home) or place (Italy, Morocco, Finland, US, etc.) might permit.