Sites of Power recently emerged from a previous series From Here as a separate, but related, body of work. These paintings continue to be based on photographs of scale models, and the distortion that occurs as imagery is translated from one medium to another remains significant: the “real” thus endures a substantial filtration process and the viewer’s relationship with it becomes estranged. While From Here addresses issues of power and powerlessness as manifested in human interaction during wartime, Sites of Power is an exploration of built structures in which abstract power is embodied or performed. These sites belong to a variety of domains including politics, military, commerce, learning, and religion.

Rendered photographically, but with severe cropping and awkward perspective, the images are reduced to formal composition, pattern and color, remaining only minimally recognizable. These quasi-abstract paintings return the reified concept of power to an abstract state, denuding the structures of the power they once wielded. Further erosion occurs as moments of material imperfection are highlighted: cracks in plaster, Astroturf that is curling up from its substrate, water stains on tarmac. An element of human frailty and disintegration is thus inserted into the otherwise flawless model. The paintings’ photographic references suggest a place one could visit, but the high point-of-view discomfits the viewer, leaving her unsure how to physically relate to the space and producing unease as she attempts to navigate these abstract power structures.