“Put On a Happy Face” What if you encountered a familiar symbol in an unexpected, even disturbing, context? That’s one of the questions posed by my most recent work. My life-long fascination with cultural symbols led me to imagine the ubiquitous yellow “smiley” face in a variety of seemingly contradictory situations. I want people to realize that the world is a much more complex place than we might wish, and things we thought were clear can take on a different meaning in a different context. I seek to create narratives about issues of importance in our 21st centuryworld. For this series I sought to build ambiguity into each painting or collage, and invite viewers to complete each narrative based on their own lives and experiences. I hope you’ll join me. For more of the artist’s work, visit: http://earthfriendarts.com