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My current work investigates the notion of patriotism and nationalism. Being an Iraq war veteran and losing my brother in the war in Afghanistan, I began to look at the larger picture. People would say your bother died for this country, and my response would be “Why?’. I started critiquing the United States and its politics. I began to look at the history of the country along with its violent nature of foreign and domestic war. This investigation led me to working with materials and the symbolism they hold. From the Gadsden Flag to hunting camo, to using actual deer pelts, the aesthetics and symbols of the far right became what I used to make the work. I pull images from the internet, drawing on them digitally, then getting them printed out on vinyl to be painted on top of. Most images are of incidences that occurred on the U.S. soil that either was violent in nature or committed acts of violence fueled by racism and hatred. It is a commentary on the violent nature of the white male through out the U.S. and how it is used in our day to day lives. The imagery and materials are things we see every day yet put in a fine art context, the viewer is confronted with the juxtaposition of symbolism and imagery.  Plans for future work and research include working with moving pictures and sound to try and twist and warp the notion of the American dream.  I would say all the work I do is usually political in some form or another. My research all stems from losing my brother. Though the work currently does not touch specifically on the topic of grief, it comes from the same place. A broken country.