My artwork is my way of revealing the hidden yet integral parts of myself that I could never otherwise bring myself to display. I create to make my presence known; to free myself of living as a floating, taciturn face in the hall known only at surface level. With my body of work, I want to move away from the traditional linear story and toward one sprawling in vastly different directions, all with a common basis of each snippet being uniquely mine.

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     I choose my subjects based upon which story captures my heart at that moment. My interest often flickers from character to character depending on my state of mind, and when I can’t find one who quite fits how I’m feeling, I reach inward instead. These personal self-portrait pieces are the core of my body of work from which everything else branches out. They depict the circumstances leading to my fantastical stories. Material-wise, I find myself coming back to acrylic because it is familiar, textured, and allows for a lot of build-up and modification. Digital art, sculpture, maskmaking, fiber arts, and found objects are other personal loves, and I incorporate them into my work wherever I see fit. I have also recently taken to incorporating oil pastel and watercolor as final details that make colors pop out.

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     The single throughline connecting each of these disparate story-based pieces is escapism. Each character is one I came up with on my own, conjured up at the moment I needed them most as a means of grappling with my own reality. Likewise, each motif in my self-portraits serves a unique role in my own story. Examples are the depiction of myself as coyote-like as a symbol of resilience, spaces that cage me contrasted with ones that free me, and cultural symbols like the feathers from Funeral by Arcade Fire. My challenge and my dream with my portfolio have always been to put my thoughts and ideas into something physical and larger than myself; something that stays in my hometown even in my absence.