Forms are subtly excited by the concept of flickering flames, which work to inspire a premier view of life's fantasies and youthful imagination. Illusions of identity are unraveled using the linguistic archetype troughout this series, hypothesizing early origins of identity.
Betts experiments with shadow shapes of simple desert subjects that have a primitive influence on evolutionary identity. The linguistic archetype created to understand the origins of identity is put to the test in this series, refining its structure.
Betts draws from primordial concepts of evolution by pairing the still life with coastal shapes. From this series, triadic arguments unravel the concept of identity, requiring a more complex and unique framework of a linguistic archetype.
String lights are veiled, illuminating their golden aura behind pastries and ice creams, reflecting moments of fading delight.
Latin American influences of whimsical movement combine with magic realism, elevating string lights above and around traditional subjects alongside Asian influences relating the impact of mother nature as ornamental traditions that have washed ashore.
Tea cups have broken into fragments, which hover in a frozen moment. Named after parts of the body, each also conveys a kind of futuristic sense of movement by way of invoking the body.
Each cup floating in the gray sea - the Great Salt Lake, to be exact - is a kind of metaphoric portrait of the artist himself. These are empty vessels to be filled, in this case with all of the outside influences that become internalized to form one's identity.
In the most evocative of traditional still life painting, Betts depicts cups and saucers on a shelf with jars of preserved fruit, warmly backlit, as though lights had been dimmed, and intertwined with delicate, festive strings of lights.
Portraiture continues to inspire the existential and humanist passion in Betts' work. Empathy overpowers the painting process of these images fostering the idealization of documenting an individual life.
Flowers are proped up by string lights, highlighting the growth of identity from a relatively innocent perspective of draped light.
Betts documents the passage of time in an environment by capturing the fluid and fleeting moments where car or shop lights highlight building facades, street signs, windows, and pedestrians.
Deconstruction of identity begins as the excitement to unravel life's many mysteries unfolds through the desire to contemplate more than just life that passes before the eye.
Studying the nude figure builds an understanding of human desire and a meaningful interpretation of life in work. Each subject provides an intimate view of humanity and individual expression.
The magnetism of light and its affect on life elevates stillnes to an iconic state of representation in this series reflecting Western iconography.
Inspired by Eastern iconography, this series reflects the lore of the landscape and the evoloution of knowledge through nature.