Greetings! As my very first website post, there’s nothing better than expressing what kind of artist I am, and the most important parts of my work.
First and foremost, art has been a means of expression that evokes the deepest parts of the soul, and the truest expression of emotions. Even when I struggle with verbal communication, I can rely on art to communicate and connect with others. Art has great potential to connect diverse groups of people who despite their differences may find a common shared idea or experience.
All of my pieces are driven by a narrative. My creations seek to breathe life into the characters of the tales that live within my viewers’ psyches. When the distraction of the outside world fades away, when we have only ourselves to face at the crossroads between wakefulness and sleep, we may find ourselves facing the truths and terrors these artworks represent.
It is by no mistake that I have also created subjects that are imbued with a certain mystique. From my earliest grotesques to now, I’ve aimed to add a sense of something otherworldly and fantastical to my creations. Whether it is an urban legend, myth, or just inspired by fiction, there’s the hint of something beyond our understanding, be it whimsical or menacing.
The manipulation of metals- steel, copper, silver- has always been of interest to me. Metal has been reserved for weighty thoughts and emotions. Artists like Tiff Massey and my professors in the Metals/Jewelry and Sculpture departments have encouraged me to work beyond the limitations of commercial jewelry to explore what kind of artist I can become; how can I push and blur the boundaries between jewelry and sculpture?
Experimentation with various metalworking techniques and the scale or function of my pieces allows me to better express the narratives I want to share with my viewers. Patinas in my artwork are especially prominent as elements that explore the tarnishing and destruction of metal, to transform what the viewer understands about a concept or theme represented. As some of the topics explored are not subtle nor small in scope, the corresponding visual representation I create cannot be either. Being physically weighed down by a piece of jewelry and emotionally affected by it should go hand in hand, and we should not seek to minimize topics that society does not speak openly about.