Features Overview
Endeavor I 2024
Endeavor I & II [2024]
This diptych challenges the viewer to examine each element in my paintings and find something they can connect with. I expect interpretations of my work will vary based on one’s own experiences. By listening and finding ways to understand the experiences of others, we can create a world that is far less lonely and much more supportive of everyone.
The aesthetic representation of the male body in Endeavor speaks about the way in which we view masculinity and male strength. The glitch-effect seen throughout this piece is representative of the duality that men live in. Men experience a variety of emotions but are often not allowed to or do not feel safe expressing them. The build of the figures references classical sculptures such as Doryphoros by Polykleitos. This work calls attention to the soft side of male existence and fights against centuries of trauma that continue to make men feel ashamed for expressing any emotion that is not considered acceptable by social norms.
Self Portrait in Despair I & II [2021]
The Self Portrait in Despair series documents a small part of my experience with battling COVID-19. My fiance and I were both hit hard by this terrible sickness. I became so ill that I was unable to take care of myself while my fiance ultimately had to fight for his life on a ventilator for 13 days. Luckily, he was able to pull through but many others did not experience the same. I am grateful, but my heart aches for those who did not make it.
While COVID-19 is very painful physically, it is also very isolating. There are no words to explain the suffering that was felt. There is still a lot of trauma, and this piece was created to sort through it in hopes that it may help others who may have gone through a similar experience. This pandemic has brought so much trauma to our communities. It will take a long time to heal, but the scars will remain. Despite this, we continue to push on and find the joys in life. I think many of us will leave this pandemic with a new thirst for life.
Publication:
Self Portrait in Despair I Artistonish Magazine - 48th Issue - July 2024
Self Portrait in Despair I 2021
My Friends, the Crows [2020]
My Friends, the Crows represents deep, and often uncomfortable emotions. The crows represent the weight of struggle with pain and illness. These experiences are confusing. Although illness can be a horrific experience, it also presents opportunity for personal growth. Experiencing pain can be a humbling experience that allows you to not take things in life for granted. Something it has given me, is the ability to recognize pain in others and the ability to hold space with those people so that maybe they will feel just a bit less alone. Even if the crow sitting on the figure’s shoulder is not actively causing harm, it is always there lurking just beneath the surface.
2021 Toledo Artists’ Club “Toledo Artists’ Club Virtual Artist's Choice Show” Toledo, Ohio. USA.
Hacked- Endure, Suffer, Survive [2019]
This series was created from the theme of Hacked. Although there are multiple meanings to the word, these images focus on coping with and managing pain. The process used for this series of images is slit scanning. This process is important to the images aesthetics as well as its symbolic meaning. Slit Scanning alters an image in the sense that it is taking multiple images through time and combines them into one final image. This symbolizes the uncertainty and unpredictability of pain and the ability to cope with it. There are many layers and details that invite the viewer in to take a closer look. Images of flowers can be seen in two of the images which represent searching for and finding hope.
2019 Coburn Art Gallery “Compassion- The Art of Healing” Ashland, Ohio. USA.
Created with support from the 2018 Accelerator Grant, rewarded by The Arts Commission.
Hacked 2019
A Cat’s Underwater Adventure [2017]
This whimsical series of digital paintings is about a house cat that dreams of life outside its home. It is interested in water and does not fear it. Although seemingly dangerous, curiosity overcomes fear, and this cat goes on an adventure well outside a normal feline's comfort zone. The bright pink and purple hues symbolize hope and finding wonder in the unknown.
Exhibited:
2019 American Frame “4th Annual Employee Art Show” Maumee, Ohio. USA.
2018 20 North Gallery “ARToledo 2018: Chrysalis” Toledo, Ohio. USA.
2017 The BG Arts Council “Artists 4 Animals 5” Bowling Green, Ohio. USA.
Chronic Agony [2016]
This Diptych represents pain and emotions caused by Chronic Illness. This is a digital image that has been transferred to metal, exaggerating the image's surrealism. The supersauce transfer gives the images slight imperfections which only adds to the imperfections and pain of illness. The specular highlights of the aluminum add to the haunting feeling that I wanted to deliver to the viewer. These images are small which invites the viewer to look closely. This allows the viewer to find the symbolism placed throughout these two images.
Exhibited:
2018 20 North Gallery “ARToledo 2018: Chrysalis” Toledo, Ohio. USA.
Chronic Agony 2016
Permanent [2016]
This body of work was heavily inspired by a black out poem I created. Using slit scanning methods, I went outside and explored symbols I found in my environment that could relate directly to my poem. After I digitally manipulated my photos, I transferred the images to sheets of aluminum. Referring to the environment I was in, I gathered driftwood from Lake Erie and suspended my images from them. The title of this body of work, Permanent, comes directly from a line in the poem and is a nod towards my attempt to freeze these moments in time and space.
This body of work was exhibited at the Coburn Art Gallery in the Ohio New Photography Exhibition from June 26- July 31, 2016. The Opening Reception was on June 26 from 2:00pm-4:00pm. The juror for this exhibition was Honey Lazar who is a magnificent photographer from Cleveland Ohio.
Permanent
Deer appeared at night,
fires lit up the heavens,
wolves howled despite their hardships and isolation.
Permanent.
They are running from the old trail,
from the man who persevered and dreamed of an eventual passage way from the winter.
But the blazing of felled trees observed the rough permanent road.
