I was accepted into the MIRA: Martignano International Residency for Artists in Martignano, Lecce, Italy for a 5 month artist residency in 2011.
While at the artist residency, I continued pursuing the concepts my current body of work explores through reinterpreting the fruit imagery found in traditional still life paintings. Focusing on colorful pulp instead of the fruit’s surroundings reinterprets the genre while bringing a sense of the paradoxical to my paintings. Picking wild figs during bike rides through the Italian countryside and meeting local farmers and picking pomegranates from their gardens was an incredible experience.
During my stay in Italy, I participated in several solo to three person art exhibitions and sold my first painting internationally. Additionally, I gave an artist talk with fellow MIRA artist Tinsley Hammond and was part of an artist video in conjunction with the local arts organization EterArte.