UTOPIA SUBDIVIDED

“Utopia Subdivided” is a selection of oil paintings and drawings of suburban life landscapes in South Florida. These works are inspired by actual scenes of this standardized aesthetic but painted with an expressive stylization in defiance of the enforced conformity. The oils are painted on birch panels to signify the inflexibility of construction materials, but the wood grain is exposed to suggest the layers of illusion that permeates this environment. These images address the partitions between residents and subdivisions that can encourage isolation, exclusion and segregation. The idea of suburbia seems to be a weave of nostalgic memory, imagination and mass medias’ influences, deeply rooted in our national psyche with many expectations. For instance, the notion that living with nature is a suburban benefit is invalid when the design of the landscape is as contrived as a set design backdrop or Disneyland fantasy. Low-density housing also continues to keep the occupants totally dependent on the automobile and subjected to fluctuating gas prices in a soft economy. Because our physical setting affects our attitude, values and perception of the world, this suburban utopia has social and cultural influences. With a significant portion of our society equating the “American Dream” with a land developers’ manufactured surroundings, I question the impact of these aesthetics and barriers on the quality of family life, communities and priorities.