GALLERY //

In this new series I place masked ICE officers in children’s spaces and environments associated with play. The work questions how authority is constructed and what it means when protection is placed in spaces that are meant to feel safe.

What first drew me to this work was being a mother to a child under 10 and finding it difficult to ignore current news. We are living in a time where information arrives directly and constantly, and I did not want to numb out to it. Instead, I began responding through painting, drawing, and collage by reimagining figures of institutional power engaged in childlike play.

The masks function as both concealment and anonymity, but also as a kind of mass identity. I use saturated, candy-like colour palettes and familiar childhood imagery such as blue skies, blossoms, ferris wheels, and playground spaces to create contrast with the presence of authority figures.

The work is built through collage and layered drawing, using materials associated with childhood to heighten the tension between play and control. I am interested in the absurdity that emerges when systems of authority are placed inside spaces of innocence, and in the possibility of holding both critique and empathy at the same time.