Angels Walk With Me

Oil on wood, 2 × 4 ft, 2025

Angels Walk With Me explores the concept of indoctrination through the metaphor of herding, symbolizing how women are ceremoniously socialized into roles of submission and conformity through ritual and doctrine. Drawing from formative experiences in Catholic school, this work examines the gendered intersections of personal identity and systemic power within Christian socialization. The title and specific imagery alludes to David Lynch’s 1992 film, Fire Walk With Me, which explores the impact of the evil that men do, focusing on the darkness of abuse and corruption that feeds on innocence and ultimately shapes the female experience. The painting features a mass of women and girls, clad in sacramental dress, illustrating rites from baptism to communion to marriage. White, traditionally a symbol of purity, is used throughout to emphasize this conditioning. Central to the herd is a riderless white horse, Biblically associated with purity and victory, particularly in Revelation, where Jesus returns to triumph over evil. Here, however, the horse is riderless, evoking nihilist themes of emptiness, devoid of a guiding force. The herd, aimlessly gathered, embodies a meaningless cycle of guilt, shame, and devotion in the absence of deliverance. This work aims to confront inherited ideologies by recontextualizing practices and imagery, challenging these elements as socially constructed forces that perpetuate power dynamics and subjugation within society.

Exhibitions and Awards: 
2025 Few and Far Between Showcase, George Caleb Bingham Gallery, Columbia, MO
2025 UM Undergraduate Visual Art and Design Showcase, Columbia Art League, Columbia, MO
2025 Serendipity Gallery Exhibition Award, Serendipity Salon and Gallery, Columbia, MO