The series of images, "Good Grief",  reflects on my experience with
the stage and the South.  Each self-portrait is performed in the
studio, utilizing a constructed and hand-painted set, with props and
lighting customized to the individual scene.  The childlike
environment created is low-budget, and humorous, as it confronts the
world of women caught within, behind or between  identities.  While
grappling with issues of acceptance, submission, race, bondage,
objectification, and degradation, I also confront the oxymoron of
being a powerful victim: the characters, all with cable-release in
hand, have control over the fabricated scenarios, shifting the role of
the subject from weak and vulnerable, to sexually and emotionally
governing.  The boundaries of  memory, dream, and fantasy are blurred.
Overt, emotional game-playing causes an identity shift in which the
victim potentially becomes the bully, selfishly attempting to extract
attention from the audience; like a child demands attention from an
adult.  The comedically tragic, and sometimes haunting, series
examines ways in which exploitative power can be established within
the preordained, passive roles that a woman both plays, and perhaps
seductively, enjoys.

I was raised in the entertainment industry, moving from California to
Georgia with my mother, an 80's pop star, and stepfather, a renowned
record producer.  Throughout my childhood, I traveled on-tour and was
immersed in a world of performance with its necessary rituals of
staging, costuming, and lighting,  all informing my photographic work.
 I have been influenced by the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jack
Smith, Ike Ude, Hilton Als, and Samuel Fosso, among others.