Yearbook

Yearbook is a series of oil paintings capturing various reptiles in outfits posed against a blue backdrop reminiscent of school portraits. Each piece plays with the formality and nostalgia of yearbook photography with the humorous portraiture of non-human figures.

As a Floridian and an artist, I approached this series by considering which reptiles I feel a personal connection to, both in my environment and in my creative practice. This work is an experiment in absurdity, placing wild animals in a context reserved for human identity and memory—though one could argue there is not much difference between a wild animal and a child.

Beyond the humor and surreal charm, Yearbook asks how we assign personality, nostalgia, and importance to beings outside of ourselves. Do these portraits humanize them, or do they make us reconsider the rigid boundaries of human and non-human identity? The work is both affectionate and absurd, a playful yet sincere recognition of the little creatures that share our world.