Plate: 6” x 9”; Sheet: 11” x 14”

Etching with aquatint on Rives BFK

This piece highlights the experience of loving people the “wrong” way. Between autism and CPTSD, I rarely feel like I’m flirting or dating or even showing affection in a normal or acceptable way. That confusion of acceptable courting rituals is recontextualized here as a hunting dog with a fresh kill in his mouth placed rather disjointedly against a backdrop of a CVS Valentine’s Day aisle. The acceptable way of loving (commercial flirtation) alienates the dog (who is showing affection and dedication the way he is bred and trained to do so) and provides a bit of representational distance from the aforementioned personal experiences of loving “incorrectly.”