“A memory fragment or a mood is usually the starting point for my work. I often start by covering the surface in loose drawings that are related to the idea of the piece, then I begin painting the central image on top of those drawings, using them as the foundation for the narrative.”

“I want the work to appear as if it grew in nature, when in fact each sculpture is composed of hundreds of small pieces of wood that are seamlessly jointed together. My work can be called the ultimate recycling: where I take the detritus of nature and give it a new life.”

“Quarantine felt like entering a cave; while my eyes adjusted to sudden total darkness, my brain constructed its own lights,  shapes, and colors to focus on in the absence of clear vision. What forms out of  the dust on paper are contracts of interconnection.”

“I often have these lightning-bolt moments of images in my head, probably derived from something buried deep in my mind; a line of a poem that stuck to me, something that my ex said to me, etc. I try to stop whatever I’m doing when the image pops up in my head and grab whatever is nearest to me, a pen and a paper, or my phone, and just quickly sketch the image so I don’t forget about it. I use those rough sketches to stimulate my memory and jump right into painting. ”

“Visions of objects come to the fore of my brain. I take the ones that linger to the studio and set out to build them physically. I have a background in dance and consider my art materials to be my dance partners. In the studio, we share who leads. We move about in an improvised choreography—a back-and-forth where one action influences the next. ”

“All of the references of my work are autobiographical in some way, in that they represent an interest of mine but that could range anywhere from cartoons, religion, history, or even pure math. As far as themes go I am aiming more for a feeling rather than someone understanding all of the references that may exist in a work.”

“Photographs are the most direct method by which I can look at myself and my past. I am not the same person now that I was when I was photographed, but it is still me, so photographs are the best way I have of looking at myself objectively. I am looking at myself but also at the shape of something similar to me. Through this process, I can see and know myself a bit more.”