ARTIST STATEMENT

     I make mixed media drawings on layers of paper and wooden panels, mainly with India ink and pastel. They are raw and lively, containing loose, gestural marks contrasted with defined forms and figures. I am not afraid of the potential crust of the end product, but embrace these qualities. Many pieces break out of the standard square frame with cut, shaped edges and combine into a larger organism when installed together.

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     My imagery consists largely of characters existing and acting in a landscape of forms and marks. These figure’s inner worlds are revealed through their poses and actions relating to other visual info. They also show the relationship between life and death, peace and war, creativity and destruction, sacrifice, and that a true lover must also be a destroyer. Some recurring motifs include fruit, fingerprints, giant bugs, clouds, eggs, grids/connecting lines, praying, and organic looking forms.

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     The content of my work is intimate, personal, fun, and alive, like a conversation between close friends or reading through someone’s journal. This blend of distinct and detailed imagery sprinkled with touches of humor and storytelling gives insight toward the intentional choices made in each piece and the inner truth of how I relate to the world. I want viewers to feel that a real human being created what they’re looking at and with a genuine purpose.

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     This is continued through themes of individualism, championing that all aspects of a person’s life have immense value, including their death. It serves to inspire beauty, hope, and human potential, countering that which is artificial, superficial, and selfish while questioning what these labels truly mean in today’s setting.

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     I also consider what my personal responsibility is for my own soul through fulfilling ideals of who I want to be within the work and my ultimate role in the destiny of drawing. Even if an idea I have doesn’t seem very unique, it is my job to treat expressing it like a new phenomena. I don’t aim for perfection, but for wholeness and accuracy through absurdity.