In Aliens in America, I wanted to capture the striking juxtaposition of foreign elements colliding with iconic, familiar cultural symbols.
The composition is layered horizontally with a vibrant, fiery red upper field anchored by vertical dashes of dark blue, bleeding down into a stark white band scattered with earthy green marks and a dense, tactile expanse of rich blue below. Thick, impasto brushstrokes and scraper marks carve aggressively across the surface, creating a tense rhythm that draws the viewer straight into the friction between displacement and belonging.
Working in oil on paper, the absorbent texture grounds the heavy paint layers while allowing the rough, energetic tool marks to stand out with raw intensity. Aliens in America is about that uncanny, electrifying realization of looking at the familiar through an entirely shifted lens.
