“HEAT”

“Happy Days” is a painting series that explores the uneasy coexistence of joy and catastrophe, memory and spectacle. Through vivid color palettes, playful compositions, and retro iconography, each painting invites viewers into a scene that initially feels nostalgic or whimsical—until they notice the car crash in the background, or the tail of a plane trailing smoke as it falls from the sky.

It’s about how we remember. About the way bright summer skies and childhood laughter can linger in the same frame as tragedy. The car is frozen mid-spin on an open highway. The airplane disintegrates over a sunny suburb. Yet people picnic, children play, radios blare pop songs. The world keeps moving.

By placing these traumatic moments within scenes saturated with cheer, “Happy Days” confronts the viewer with contradictions that feel oddly familiar. What beauty do we see even in disaster? And how do we preserve the illusion of the “good old days” when cracks have always been just beneath the surface?

Ultimately, this series is not cynical—it is human. It is about the absurd, heartbreaking, and sometimes beautiful ways we carry on.