Van Bixler

Abundant with commentary on God and religious iconography, Van’s small-scale oil paintings reflect how their unorthodox experiences with Christianity affected their individuality. Referencing medieval miniatures, manuscript paintings, and Southeast Indian art, Van expertly weaves narratives of their personal life and cultural heritage into strange, surreal paintings that abandon classic figuration and perspective. Kinships between humans, animals, and botany are dissected and reconfigured, rendering parenthood interspecies, genderless, and fluid. Religious norms are subverted and disoriented, alluding to Van’s upbringing in a cult in Mexico.