My video work investigates contemporary masculinity and particularly considers how films portray men. Captivated by the challenge of suggesting movement on movement, I isolate images and clips from the flow of cinema to better illustrate the masculine assumptions embodied in individual moments. By extracting archetypes from their surrounding stories, they are cut off from the anticipated narrative, exposing them directly to a more critical gaze.  Layering and manipulating these fragments in temporal and spatial modalities further underscores the swagger of the masculine ideal.

        In my current series, Giants, I work with the masculine archetypes native to classic American films that depict a potent and virile version of the male. Actors such as Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne and Clint Eastwood become totems, conduits for representing the archetype of father, seeming righteous and infallible. Using their filmographies as a lexicon from which to pull clips and stills to layer or grid into single images, I am exploring male gender roles and ideas of mass media consumption.  These expansions will allow the exploration not only of these masculine strictures in a virtual setting, but will also allow me to examine the roles of males in other societies.

        Through this isolation of icons, I am able to delve further into the depths of the patriarchic relationships that were tenuous in my childhood. Replaced by these cinematic totems, my search for a father figure transcends the basic media presented and sets out to define a boundary that never fully appeared in my life. Through this overarching shadow, I reach for moments that not only appeal to the search but also those that appeal to a sense of nostalgia that harkens back to the days when I was trying to learn these structures.