statement

Drawing is a form of self portrait. It is a reflection of your lifestyle, and also an unlocking of yourself. It is an act of storytelling, and a form of sharing one's perspective in narrative form with their neighbor. In this way, it is a basis of communication, a visceral approach to thinking which demands metaphoric participation. 

I make work about relationships. I'm interested in ideas that revolve around union and separation, needs and desires, as well as the forms of symbiosis and their manifestations in our physical and personal lives. In my work, I try and express interconnectivity; that little line that exists between everything which is the key to building identity. 

Primarily I draw animals. I've found this to be key in making statements about the internal experience. When you draw people, you are drawing a specific person, meaning they have a specific age, gender, ethnicity, and when the viewer looks at the drawing, they can't help but notice those things and either relate or separate. Animals can stand in metaphorically for feelings that go beyond our physical differences; they are more universal. While animals do carry cultural significances, the narrative in my work is more focused on how they relate to one another, with the story being expressed through their experience. In this way, the viewer also can experience the depth of the stories, where they can cast themselves onto the symbols and participate in the longing for an understanding of connection.

bio

born: 1986, Grand Rapids, Michigan

education

Grand Valley State University, BFA, 2009

selected awards/honors

Hook Pottery Paper Artist Residency, LaPorte, IN, 2012
Cabin Time Art Camp: A Roaming Artist Residency, Porcupine Mountains, MI, 2012
Ox Bow School of Art Fellowship Recipient, Saugatuck, MI, 2008

selected publications

ABC Network: Revenge Television Series. Los Angeles, CA: Season 1, Episode 12, 2011
Manifest Gallery; International Drawing Annual 6.  Cincinnati, OH: Manifest Press p. 128, 2011
Visual Overture Magazine, Vol. 2. Atlanta, GA: p. 10-11, Spring 2011
Creative Quarterly Magazine, Vol. 5, No. 2. New York, NY: p. 45, Winter 2010 (also Vol. 3, No. 4 p. 63, Vol. 4 No. 1, p. 33).

selected solo or two-person exhibits

YT Galleria: Nesting, Grand Rapids, MI, 2010
Padnos Gallery: This is Not That, Allendale, MI, 2009

selected group shows

Thinkspace Gallery: Wild At Heart: Keep Wildlife in the Wild, Culver City, CA, 2012
Thinkspace Gallery: Picks of the Harvest, Culver City, CA, 2012
White Walls Gallery: Art On The Move, San Francisco, CA, 2012
106 Gallery: Cabin Time, Grand Rapids, MI, 2012