Deliquesce (2018), oil on canvas
I dream vividly every night. These dreams, both good and bad, inspire my work and become the basis for my compositions. I create visual art rather than prose because I often struggle to come up with the words necessary to fully and accurately explain the emotions, both rational and irrational, that I often experience. I find it necessary to share my experiences, hopes, and anxieties, as a means of processing what happens in my head. I view my dreams as a direct line to my deepest thoughts and pure, unchecked emotion. Subconscious thoughts that surface while dreaming often lead to personal realizations about what is happening in my life.
My art works to bridge the gap between my liminal dreamspace and the physical world. Using paints, inks, and pencils, I illustrate personal dream scenery to bring a certain tangibility and understanding to my subconscious world by combining recurring imagery, colors, or feelings directly from my dreams. Oftentimes I utilize recurring nightmares and transform them into something pleasant and calming.
As I create, I continuously pursue and discover numerous pathways that I can use to deliver my message. I am fascinated by how different visual results can convey the same message or emotion. Small tweaks within the composition can completely change the meaning of a work, just as small happenings in my conscious life can create major events in my neverending dreams.