Artist Statement

"What they dont understand about birthdays and what they never tell you is that when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one. And when you wake up on your eleventh birthday... you don't feel eleven at all. You feel like you're still ten. And you are- underneath that year that makes you eleven. And maybe one day when you're all grown up maybe you will need to cry like if you are three, and that's okay. That's what I tell Mama when she's sad and needs to cry. Maybe she's feeling three."

--Sandra Cisneros



Each individual existence consists of layers upon layers that form our reality. People are a compilation of these layers, some that are exposed and some which remain hidden. As a painter, my content concentrates on tapping into these layers of reality. What I find fascinating is how often our layers contradict, yet still coincide truthfully. A person is such a peculiar combination of contradicting layers, which build his/her reality.  Often two layers of someone's reality seemingly connect contradictory characteristics, yet the irony is in the blunt truth of the two opposing qualities. I often render the human figure, doors, windows, buttons, and patterned paper to symbolize these layers and how they are revealed or not revealed, opened or closed.

I'm interested in deconstructing stereotypes, exposing injustices, studying art history and sharing non-traditional ideas about everything from religion to American society.  I love reading non-canonical scriptures, I love traveling and being immersed in other cultures, I love yoga and foreign language, and I most love challenging people's minds if at all possible.  I'm inspired by Sylvia Plath, Elizabeth Gilbert, Regina Spektor, Sandra Cisneros, Jenny Saville, Eminem, and all of the artists I work with everyday.