"METAMORPHOSIS"
In line with my earlier work, these new paintings explore the tension between the individual and society. At their core is Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, where Gregor Samsa’s unexplained transformation into an insect becomes a metaphor for alienation in modern life. As his family and coworkers reject him, Samsa’s humanity dissolves into monstrosity—a reflection of how societies isolate and stigmatize.
Mug shots, widely accessible public records, served as the starting point for this project. My intent is not to glorify or condemn those portrayed, but to question how we perceive them. Regardless of their offenses, they remain permanently marked. By “metamorphosing” them into insects, I ask whether different support systems might have changed their paths.
While biology plays a role in crime, scholars point to alienation as a key driver: when individuals lose belonging, they may act out, seek control, or join deviant groups. Today, alienation is pervasive. Across the U.S. and the world, people are marginalized for their beliefs, gender, ethnicity, politics, or class.
My paintings depict figures in stages of grotesque transformation—symbolic portraits of ordinary people turned nightmare. The real question is not whether my creatures retain humanity, but whether we, as a society, still recognize it in the incarcerated, the convicted, and the marginalized. Can these “monsters” become something more?