Artist Statement

What do you see the world through? Some of us see the world through contacts, some through rose-tinted glasses, and some of us, the immature ones, see it through those curly straw glasses. But I know that most of us see the world through the haze of our dreams. Some of us see park benches as skateboard rails, some see freshly painted white walls and a canvas for pink spray paint, some see four sizes too large jeans and see our new fashion statement. In essence, we see the world as it could be, which is what I love about people.

When I consider my art, I realize it is made up of what I want my life to look like: warm fireplaces, soft sunlight, the cool touch of lake water, the gentle embrace of a good friend. At the same time, I am trying to make a commentary and statement on the world around me, but it's not necessarily all a critique. Most of the time, I aim to entertain, to provide a world that doesn't exist in reality so that people can escape the stressors of real life, if only for a minute.

I want my work to feel like sticking your hand in a bowl of hot stones, warm, possibly a little shocking, but altogether quite relieving. I want to reach out from my pieces to grab you by the collar and say "are you looking?" "are you seeing the beautiful, strange world around you?" 

In the end, while art is meant to shake you awake from yourself, I don't think it always has to be a rude awakening. I think that art can give you hope for the world, a way to see its wonderful loveliness with new open eyes.