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I am a Los Angeles based artist specializing in Sculpture, Painting, Printmaking, and Drawing. I was born and raised in LA, and art has been a central piece of my identity for as long as I can remember. My journey as an artist began as a child trying to follow in my filmmaker and artist father’s footsteps. Through countless hours of drawing with crayons, building sculptures out of rocks, whittling sticks, and making homemade Halloween costumes together, my dad showed me that art knows no boundaries. As I moved through school this creative passion remained, often revealing itself in doodles scattered throughout my notes, assignments, and sometimes even exams. In high school I developed a fascination with a wide range of artistic mediums, engaging mainly in ceramic sculpture, drawing, and printmaking. When I arrived at Amherst College, I knew that I wanted to take advantage of the available opportunities and facilities to continue my education as an artist. Each school year I sustained a focus in a specific medium, taking only drawing classes in my first year, sculpture in my sophomore year, painting in my junior year, and printmaking in my senior year. These intensive periods dedicated to different methods of creation allowed me to focus on developing specific skills, and ultimately combine them in the culminating project that was my senior thesis.
My thesis work stems from the combination of my fascination with art and with the natural world. For many years I have unconsciously centered much of my work around animals, plants, humans, and their interactions. In recent years I have taken multiple solo road trips, visiting national parks around the country. These experiences have allowed me to realize that my personal connection to nature must be viewed through a lens of global warming and pollution. I am exploring my captivation with various natural structures, formations, and organisms, while grappling with the notion that the future of these very beings is being put at great risk.
A main source of inspiration for my work has come from The Biophilia Hypothesis, a book written by Stephen R. Kellert and Edward O. Wilson. This book lays out the premise that humans have an “innate tendency to focus on life and life-like processes.” Kellert writes, “The biophilia hypothesis proclaims a human dependence on nature that extends far beyond the simple issues of material and physical sustenance to encompass as well the human craving for aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive, and even spiritual meaning and satisfaction." This hypothesis provides a clear reference point and scientific backing for concepts I have been enamored with for years in my artwork. My work aims to continue the exploration of these ideas through the combination of painting, sculpture, printmaking, and drawing by using traditional art materials such as oil paint, clay, graphite, plaster, steel, and printing ink, as well as non-traditional materials such as found branches, rocks, moss, living plants, and scrap metal.
While navigating natural landscapes, I began to see myself in the land, both literally and figuratively. In rock faces, tree burls, and clouds I searched for shapes, angles, and shadows that resemble human faces — glimpses of myself in the land. Simultaneously, the process of physically engaging with and navigating through the landscapes deepened my emotional connection to the natural world, and drive to protect it. My goal with this body of work is to uncover why I have been taught to view humans and nature as separate entities. I am exploring how the future of my own life and that of the natural world are intertwined and tethered to the same fate.