Frankie Modesto

Love is a driving force in my work. Growing up queer in a small town has shaped my perception of intimacy. Like many other queer people, I began equating sex and love with shame and repression. As a painter, I am motivated by this personal history, my present environment, and the search for love, hope, sensuousness, and pleasure in my life.

In my recent work, I pour heavily diluted paint onto the surface, and then use those organic stains to form my composition. I am interested in using the fluidity of paint to explore the emotions of a fluid and changing internal environment. Emerging from the fields of color, I paint loved ones and dream-like creatures inhabiting imagined worlds. A fantastic dream where space and time melt away. My paintings relate to this sense of longing in a way that looks to the future with a desperate sense of optimism.