Artist Statement

While visiting a torture museum in Spain, I was astounded by the unfathomable atrocities that were on exhibition. People have perfected cruelty to the highest level – to that of an art form. This historic, primal brutality and oppression take many forms. One form of cruelty, torture, is based on the sole purpose of inflicting extreme pain in order to find out the “truth.” It can also be inflicted to create a state of fear, isolation, humiliation, dehumanization, deprivation, and disorientation.

Working within this theme of torture, I began creating torture devices. After reading much on this subject, I found that torture is far more complicated than I originally thought. Thus, my work expanded to include the victim, the affected families, the person who orders the torture, the executioner, as well as the political and religious implications.

Recently, I’ve been exploring more subtle issues of personal relationships, such as intolerance, mixed messages, and negativity.

Perhaps cruelty is so compelling to me because evil is so much more provocative than good. Although the work references back to medieval times, today’s headlines, unfortunately, reconfirm the pervasiveness and persistence of atrocities perpetrated on people incapable of defending themselves.