Artist Statement

Art is my lifelong passion, and my path from textile student to Air Force pilot to sculptor has been both divergent and challenging. My journey began by earning a B.S. in Apparel and Textiles at Kansas State University, during which I was awarded an ROTC scholarship. Upon graduation I became a pilot in the Air Force, and over time art evolved into a therapeutic exercise used to overcome PTSD and the severe stress of my job while serving on multiple deployments. Through the process of my medical evaluation and retirement, it became clear that I needed to enthusiastically explore this artistic passion, with a mission focused on helping others that suffer from mental health issues like PTSD. 

My experiences bolstered and forged my passion, and my work focuses on the complex relationship we have with mental health. Though my work encompasses many mediums from printmaking to textiles, my primary medium is sculpture with an emphasis on the materiality of wood and metal. Much of my metal is constructed via welding, and then intentionally rusted and then sealed, and the hardwood is displayed with a coat of oil. My work creates an inversion of expectations through making an unyielding material look soft and fluid through techniques such as forging.

My subjects typically consist of abstractions based on the fictional worlds that we use as escapism style coping mechanisms. The fragmentation demonstrates when the mind twists positive coping mechanisms into obsessive negative habits. I number works in lieu of standard titles, so as to allow the viewer to impose their own adversaries into the silhouette.

Stony Brook University Senior Seminar Undergraduate Online Art Exhibition Spring 2020