Rural Flight

The Work: Abstract compositions using gesture, color, shape, and line to explore complex relationships—isolation vs. connection, tradition vs. change, personal identity vs. external perception. Each painting reflects a specific dynamic: the dance between colors, tension between light and dark, contrast of confusion and calm.

The Context: Created during my graduate research in Arts & Cultural Leadership, this series emerged from years of providing professional development to rural artists and witnessing firsthand the practical and cultural obstacles they faced—not just distance and travel, but deep-rooted generational biases from both rural and urban art communities.

Core Themes:

• Proximity: Physical distance between rural communities and urban cultural hubs

• Romanticism: Detached idealization of rural life vs. lived reality

• Bias: Persistent stereotypes of rural people as uneducated or uncultured

• Rural depopulation: Urbanization seen from the perspective of those left behind

Medium: Oil and acrylic on canvas

Approach: Because the content is complex, I work out themes in abstract forms. The composition becomes a reflection of relationships—of how one element interacts with another.