Ruins, 2020. Risograph printed zine with watercolor and ink illustrations.

These illustrations began as an exercise outside of the figurative painting I usually create. Paintings of people are my comfort zone. I’d begun to inch away from that with the paintings in Poor Pretty Jane but painting chaotic, imaginary ruins pushed me further.

I started this series at the end of 2019 but it took on new meaning when I finished it in 2020. Painting deserted ruins felt more poignant during the pandemic lockdowns when photos were emerging of normally bustling cities and streets that were now devoid of human life. When it became clear that things would remain this way for more than the two weeks we initially expected it begged the question: is this the new normal? Now that more time has passed this mentality seems dramatic but the prospect of a vacant world felt very haunting at the time.