I’ve been slowly chipping away at a new body of work, titled Rites of Affliction.  I’m trying to pick apart the id of the United States, a nation whose history and culture is steeped in violence and bigotry, a nation of immigrants whose inherited trauma connects to the negative feedback loop often referred to as the cycle of abuse. In seeking to explore my own heritage, I’ve become deeply interested in the dark past of Europe, one in which cycles of violence, religious oppression, and imperialism have created a framework of angst, terror, and rage that was exported via colonialism to the Americas. How these cycles, prejudices, and impulses are manifested in the American psyche is one of the primary inspirations behind this series.  Head over to the Painting section of my Portfolio to have a look…