PAINTINGS
The paintings were inspired by my learning about a discriminatory practice here in Portugal where some business owners place a ceramic statue of a frog in the window or at the entrance of their establishment to discourage the Romani from entering. According to a number of sources, the Romani have an aversion to frogs. Frogs are apparently considered to be bad luck in Roma culture: unclean, impure or marime. I also included the bold colors and meandering stitch motifs found in some Romani textiles as well as my signature spray paint, which speaks to a kind of cultural defacement.