Love, attraction, and desire are running themes throughout history. Sparking wars, inspiring sonnets, and destroying people, sometimes kingdoms. The Greeks were so fascinated with the idea of love. They gave it five names: Eros, Mania, Agape, Philia, Storge. For them, love had many different meanings. There’s Agape unconditional love of one’s fellow humans. Philia the platonic love of one’s friends. Storge love of family. Mania is an uncontrollable love similar to madness. And last but not least Eros of these four Eros is the most well-known. It is a passionate love for romantic or sexual partners. Unlike today, where love is mostly assigned to a romantic partner or family member. In my work, love themes are translated into modern depictions of Ancient love tropes. In current contemporary art, there are few depictions of non-romantic relationships. The romantic relationships depicted are often one-sided and from a masculine point of view. In the history of art practice, love between other races and sexual identities have often been ignored. I hope through my work to give light to the other important relationships that are taken for granted, by the media and society at large.

I am inspired by the symbolic use of figures in the Italian renaissance; along with the work of artist Corita Kent. Kent’s work used images from pop culture and scripture from the bible. Kent makes dark and complex themes appear bright and colorful. Printmaking has been the medium of free thought for hundreds of years. Before reading was common practice prints were used as a way to convey complex themes to an illiterate public. It served as the voice of the revolution. Kent used her prints to protest the Vietnam war. The ability to make multiple copies is also appealing as a cheap means of production. Speaking of Production, in my process I tend to take reference photos first. I pin them to the walls of my room and use a Wayfinder to view my image’s in interesting compositions. Love is a complex emotion that differs from person to person. The topic can be heavy and multilayered that’s why printmaking is perfect. Prints can express complex themes while remaining visually engaging and it has a history of voicing the opinion of oppressed people. It has a cheap production cost; and is easy to get into. I want to take a timeless concept and adapt it for a new age.