My series of figurative paintings was created as a reaction to the sentiment found in books such as “The Power of Now”, “The Secret”, and “Learned Optimism”. I wanted to make work that touched on topics prominent within my experience that are increasingly ignored or denied in this age of self-empowered positive affirmation. The paintings portray glimpses of stories or fleeting emotions surrounding people’s interactions and relations with one another. They deal with the frustration of failure, dissatisfaction, and disaffection. There is a sense of awkwardness in the work that stems from its crude, quirky visual components as mush as from its intimate, overly sentimental subject matter. But there is also an underlying current of playfulness and self-mockery.