ABOUT THE WORK

My recent body of work is entitled Enlightened Innocence, which I created as a way to discuss my interest in the beauty and hypocrisy of religion. I grew up in a Catholic household, and I attended Catholic school for 1st and 2nd grade. After 33 years of philosophizing and learning about the origins of the Abrahamic religions, I have arrived at a stance of both appreciating some of the stories from the religions, while simultaneously taking pleasure in the act of questioning and interrogating those stories.

Innocence, in this case, is the embodiment of the naivete of the followers of all religions, as well as a relic or artifact of the origin of those religions. Almost every religion follows a doctrine of a set of instructions to follow in order to be a better influence on those around you, which doesn't seem to be the observed reality of most of religion's followers. I want to create this place of innocence for the viewer as a starting point from which to enter the images in order to see them with a fresh pair of eyes unburdened by expectations or doubts. Whenever possible, I use imagery which is nostalgic or references a specific image or memory from my childhood in order to depict a scene or associated feeling I have experienced. This is all an effort to escort the viewer into a headspace of a more innocent version of themselves.

Enlightenment then plays the role of teacher in this context, as well as the role of creator. This is an opportunity to start over, and create a version of the stories in the way I would have taught them to my childhood self in order to understand the important lessons available from them. I see this as an opportunity to learn from the mistakes made in the name of religion for the purpose of helping the world at large advance into a more unified contemporary society. The three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have more in common than they have differences.

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One important example from the work is the character Gabriel, the archangel who visits Mary and tells her she will give birth to Jesus in the Bible. This same character is also present in the Quran, when he speaks to Muhammad, thus making him a prophet. I chose to represent Gabriel as somewhat of a troublemaker, meddling in the affairs of humans as an act of play despite drastic consequences for generations to come.