Right Is Wrong grew out of a childhood memory that stayed with me for decades. At seven years old, I was told that piercing my right ear meant I was telling the world I was gay, so I pierced my left instead. Even then, I knew I was different. Decades later, I almost exclusively wore my right earring, a once coded symbol that became a quiet reminder that I had nothing to hide.
This painting balances a masculine figure with playful abstraction and expressive mark making. Some of the marks reference milestones in my life including fatherhood, marriage, building a home, relationships, and personal growth, while others exist simply because they felt right in the moment. That freedom to move between intention and instinct made this one of the most enjoyable paintings in the series and continues to shape where my work is headed.