Artist Statement:
This body of work both pokes fun at me striving for “’star quality” and success in addition to making viewers consider what fame/success means and how it can be attained/evaluated.
What is compelling is "our" pervasive cybernetic mode to fame/celebrity/success, which plunks copying and makes originality a romantic notion. As an artist and as an individual this seems wrong.
In a world where it seems that it is becoming common for people to augment their appearance to look more like some "celebrity", I am intrigued by the notion that looking like someone might in someway make you actually become more like them.
Throughout my life I have been inspired by many famous people. To see if there might be some truth in this notion, I started taking self portraits of me using nothing other than face paint and props to find out if their talent might rub off on me? Would I achieve their success?
I have done over 500 now. I am not aware of any of their "star quality" having rubbed off on me yet.