Within my work, I’ve thought about painting as the primary means of recording history for thousands of years, and how it can continue to be a medium for historical documentation in an age of digital photography, the internet, and unprecedented development in the field of image creation. What events, or which figures, are the zeitgeist? Who is ‘in power’, and what are we defining ‘power’ as? What does religious devotion look like today? What are the Seven Deadly Sins in a modern context? Who is valued more in major media, politicians or celebrities? Which events today do we deem to be of ultimate national relevance? What does it mean to learn history through the internet? How do we tackle an era of AI, image copyright, image ownership, image censorship, and image doctoring through the medium of paint? How do we redefine what it means for an image to be ‘authentic’? If images are altered, how is their meaning impacted? How can I engage these concepts in conversation within my paintings?

This series is both a reflection of the ambiguity I feel towards my American citizenship as well as a broader look into the visual language of contemporary popular culture. 

Prints and original works available. Contact cocobrooks2@gmail.com for inquiries and further info.

Exhibition interview here