This was a series of approximately 30 paintings created in the 1990s. I used family photos and “baby pictures” to stage dramas intended to uncover and illuminate the power of family dynamics to influence behavior and the development of personality.
Each family is an island, creating its own rules, most of which are unstated, unexamined and unchallenged. In this series I examined and dissected the dynamics of my own family, which became an exercise in self-confrontation. During the years when this series was exhibited, I was astonished at the response of many of my viewers and the sharing that followed. As a result of that experience, let me state my firm, if somewhat outrageous belief, that all families are dysfunctional. They only differ in the particulars, the intensity, and the scrutiny brought to bear (or not) by its members.
I am often asked why I ceased to work in this figurative, confrontational style. My answer to that question has been long in coming, but I believe I can now say that my current work wrestles with and confronts similar questions and themes. It is simply that it is now much more encoded. All artwork of strong conviction is probably autobiographical. Some is more obviously so.
