These paintings are interpretations of family photos, many taken in Williamstown, NJ during the 1950s, all enormously illuminated by the subsequent histories of the people portrayed and by current ideas about immigration, marriage, trauma, narcissism, religion and shame. 

My brother and I, always ‘Mickie and Chuck.’

My mother and brother. The painting captures her characteristic tension
despite the deliberately idyllic scene.

My grandmother from Riga in her Pennsylvania backyard.
She liked a big, ferocious-looking dog. 

My mother displaying a smile from WWII, the kind that hasn’t been
seen on anyone since. Hers didn’t last. 

Baba, my great-grandmother. She doesn’t usually let me paint her,
but this work appeared almost by itself. 

Me all dressed up and apparently torturing another of my grandmother’s big black dogs.

My brother and I obediently ignoring whatever drama is playing out in the background.  

My Russian step-grandfather standing behind a rosebush, God knows why.

Nana and me, her comical captive.