Artist Statement

I feel like an explorer, with the canvas as the map on which I record my findings. My explorations can lead me down into the dark and uncomfortable corners of my mind, but I can also find myself in places of imaginative playfulness (it’s a lot like life in that way). My favorite moments of discovery are when those two worlds collide.

The act of creating is an immersive one, the stroke of the pencil or paintbrush is often a meditative experience that pulls me in, and nothing excites me quite like the discovery of a beautiful color or interesting shift of light. My process is very structured at the start, as I plan out how best to represent what I want to communicate, but I like to leave room in that structure for deviation as new paths open up to me along the way. There’s great satisfaction when it comes time to show my work and it seems the meaning I intended is loud and clear, but it’s equally exciting when new meanings I never considered are revealed by the audience, I’m not sure which I like better.

Stories and myths have been used all throughout history as a way to express deeper truths about us and our reality. A storyteller works as an interpreter, a guide to help lead us through things that are hard to process or don’t make sense. Facts are useful and necessary, but a good story is what will really resonate with someone. To me, art functions in the same way. Whether I’m painting directly from life, or drawing from my imagination, I aim to give that resonance with viewers and show them a beautiful story. Much of my work centers around fantasy, but I don’t see it as escapism, but rather an imaginative way of interpreting our reality.