I am an interdisciplinary artist based in Northern California with roots in Southeast Texas, where I spent most of my life.
Growing up and working in environments shaped by narrow, even toxic definitions of masculinity and femininity, I witnessed the resentment, the constant misunderstanding, shame and blame those roles can create.
That experience sparked a deep inquiry into the origins of gender roles, leading me to explore everything from mythology and religion to the social and cultural narratives that shape how we understand ourselves today.
Through painting and mixed media, my work is an exploration of the masculine and feminine archetypal energies that exist within all of us.
I examine the stories we inherit about gender and the way those stories influence our relationships, our identities and our human sense of belonging.
While the differences between them have long been framed as a source of conflict, I am less interested in taking sides than in understanding how these energies coexist.
With the use of color, layered textures, symbolic geometry and the occasional iconic figure, my work strives to articulate these differences visually with an awareness of how they can strengthen one another through contrast.
Collections
“Vaughan explores the tension between control and surrender, aiming to awaken in the viewer an ancient, quiet, yet latent emotion.” — ArtRKL