Mortality Paintings (or “Fatal Landscapes”), 2021

Each of the fifty-six “landscapes” in this work represents an instance of homicide that occurred locally within Los Angeles during the month of March 2019, one year before the global pandemic began (as listed on the LA Times Homicide Report page). In exhibition, these paintings lay across a floor, dispersed within a few feet of each other, where a visitor to the space may physically navigate their number, from one side of the room to another. The contemplative visceral experience of walking through a physical enumeration of mortality is presented in consideration of the alternate navigation of mortality which occurred during the pandemic, announced through digital media, en masse and momentary.