statement

Unique to every individual are fingerprints, pore patterns, scars, bruises, wrinkles, abrasions, freckles, moles, calluses, warts, stretch marks, birthmarks, and a vast repertoire of fleshy characteristics.   I am a painter of the human body, fascinated mostly by the largest organ in the body, the skin.  The skin is a veil and a barrier that separates us from the outside world.  Most amazing, perhaps, is that it can renew, heal, and repair itself when necessary. As part of my working process, I look at the skin in various degrees of magnification, noticing that every square inch of the skin tells a story.  The skin is strangely beautiful when examined closer than just with the naked eye.  It becomes a place, a place with a narrative on the surface.  Yet, you can also see through the skin and underneath it.  In my paintings the body can start to take on other forms related to nature such as sculpted sand dunes, the roots of a tree, or the ripples of water.  I strive to create my own skin with paint where there can be a marriage between the medium and the subject matter.

bio

born: 1988, West Virginia

education

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, MFA, 2013

West Virginia University, BFA, 2011

selected awards/honors

Academy Scholarship, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 2011-2013

Nominee for Jack-Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship, 2011

Fine Arts Scholarship Full Tuition Waiver, West Virginia University, 2007-2011

selected group shows

Home Bodies: An Intimate View of the Great Indoors, Lif Afif Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2013

112th Annual Student Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2013

Building a Masterpiece: Frank Furness' Factory for Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2012

BFA Senior Exhibition, Creative Arts Center, Morgantown, West Virginia, 2011