I started considering what would become the Oxford series a few years ago, though I had no idea about Oxford itself at the time. I knew I wanted to paint forward-facing, larger-than-life nudes. I knew I wanted the viewer to be faced with the reality of what people really look like, and their innate value, rather than some conventional or predictable, youthful ideal. I wanted to find a way to express my own existential questions about humanity, about being here. We’re here, and then we’re not. What are we supposed to do with our short time on this planet? How should we think about ourselves and others? Isn’t there actually beauty in “imperfections?” In wrinkles? In sunspots, scars, and cellulite? Aren’t all these the very things that reflect our humanity? Isn’t the human spirit all about the fight we go through as we attempt to make sense of our time here? I believe this human spirit, this fight, is the trait most worth celebrating. So, I started with the idea that nudes are “the most honest look at the most important subject.” That line kept going through my head, and I was hooked. A friend landed in Mississippi, a state I’d never visited, and rarely even thought of. Another friend of a friend lived in the same town, Oxford. Before I knew it, I was caught up in something much bigger than me, in a very small place. This is how the series begins.

I started considering what would become the Oxford series a few years ago, though I had no idea about Oxford itself at the time. I knew I wanted to paint forward-facing, larger-than-life nudes. I knew I wanted the viewer to be faced with the reality of what people really look like, and their innate value, rather than some conventional or predictable, youthful ideal. I wanted to find a way to express my own existential questions about humanity, about being here. We’re here, and then we’re not. What are we supposed to do with our short time on this planet? How should we think about ourselves and others? Isn’t there actually beauty in “imperfections?” In wrinkles? In sunspots, scars, and cellulite? Aren’t all these the very things that reflect our humanity? Isn’t the human spirit all about the fight we go through as we attempt to make sense of our time here? I believe this human spirit, this fight, is the trait most worth celebrating. So, I started with the idea that nudes are “the most honest look at the most important subject.” That line kept going through my head, and I was hooked. A friend landed in Mississippi, a state I’d never visited, and rarely even thought of. Another friend of a friend lived in the same town, Oxford. Before I knew it, I was caught up in something much bigger than me, in a very small place. This is how the series begins.