Limerick | Ro2 Art | Dallas, TX | 2018

Limerick started with a poem… or more accurately, with the memory of writing one in second grade. I remember learning about limericks: short, witty, often mischievous. They follow a simple structure: AABBA. I took to the form immediately and wrote a bunch, but for some reason, I never got to share the one I was most proud of. Limerick is me circling back to that early moment. Not to rewrite it, but to present it in a new way, through painting and installation.

I’ve always been interested in the relationship between objects and space, and with this show, I wanted the space itself to function like a poem. I painted the walls and floor yellow, thinking of it like the paper the limerick would be written on. The works—five paintings—are the lines. They follow a placement pattern that mimics the rhyme scheme: two pieces grouped (A), one that diverges (B), another that echoes it (B), and a final piece that brings it back home (A). That’s the rhythm of the show. You don’t read it left to right or in any linear way. You walk it, sense it, piece it together through placement, color, and structure.

The installation was intentionally sparse, even a bit awkward. One painting hangs high above the door. Two paintings sit crowded on a non-sensical raw wood rolling cart. One rests on what looks like an unfinished stud wall, and another is held up by two boards that mimic appendages. It’s a clumsy in spots, a little funny, but that’s part of it. Like a good limerick, there’s a beat, a rhythm, and then a punch line. I'm playing with tension, pacing, and resolution. Not just in the paintings, but in how the whole room feels.

This show was a turning point in how I thought about my practice. It’s not just about making a strong painting anymore; it’s about constructing a total experience.