I am an artist from Columbus, Ohio, currently enrolled at Pennsylvania Western University, Edinboro, where I am an MFA Candidate in Studio Art in the printmaking concentration. I recently received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Professional and Public Writing with a Minor in Interdisciplinary Arts focusing on printmaking from Youngstown State University.
My current body of work consists of editioned lithograph, intaglio, woodcut and linocut relief, and silkscreen prints on archival paper. I combine photography, drawing, and traditional methods to create agitated narratives in my prints where insects and creatures are the main protagonists. My intention is to show an alternative perspective of human experience by drawing attention to oppressive and parasitic practices.
I like to use analog methods of drawing and mark making, such as graphite pencil, Stabilo pencil, or tusche wash before transferring my imagery to a matrix to be printed. My aim is that the final imagery will reflect personal feelings and/or experiences while trying to include ecological or social issues in the narrative.
I have personally dealt with homelessness and incarceration which has led me to look towards activism through some of my artwork. Other pieces are more poetic in their narrative with creatures juxtaposing decaying urban scenes—these draw on my interest in literature, and mutual aid among species.
Historical figures such as Albert Camus, Michel Foucault and Ecologist Peter Kropotkin along with artists that channel raw emotion and represented their time, such as Kathe Kollwitz, Leopoldo Mendez, and Francisco Goya have influenced my artistic vision.
After saying all this, there is still a desire to be ambiguous in my work, as if it were a dark dream.