NUDES BY THE BAY (2022)

​48in x 36in

​

Mixed Media: Hand-Cut Found Editorial

and Acrylic on Canvas

​​​​

​​​​

​

After Nudes in the Jungle, I turned to the coast for the next piece in the series. Growing up along the California tides, the ocean has always proved to be a space of sanctuary, but Nudes by the Bay was created from a darker current, a quiet reckoning of truths that could no longer stay submerged.

​

The piece expands on my signature paper painting technique, layering hand-cut publication fragments over an acrylic base. A quiet moon composed of grayscale cloud fragments watches over the landscape. Below, the waves carry a hidden history: the backspray and pull of the tide were reconstructed using weathered pages from discontinued Santa Cruz Waves magazines, embedding the actual soul of local ocean waters into the rhythm of the sea.

​

Three figures, representing the sacred balance of body, mind, and spirit, navigate a jagged coastline that embodies the precarious nature of our choices: a misstep on a sharp edge can wound us, while a slip on a smooth surface carries us into the unknown. Ultimately, the work invites us past the surface into layered depth, where self-preservation and inner truth find equal footing.