In the Swarm series I am exploring the concept of emergent intelligence in species that survive as a collective. By using the vehicle of the swarm I am able to create what appears to be abstract drawings while rendering the subjects realistically. I recreate feelings of being overwhelmed by not only the number of subjects repeated but by also the level in which they are rendered. I want to confront these feelings and fear while still showing how beautiful each one of these occurrences can be. 

Nature has always inspired my work in both concept and form, therefore the majority of my pieces are environmentally centered and are about naturally occurring phenomena and behaviors. With that said, the direction of my work has seen an evolution. Where the focus was once on live subjects such as swarms of animals, insects, and plants in order to portray an active idea, I slowly transitioned into making work about dead matter and elimination. Today, my work discusses themes of rebirth by portraying new life growing from the source of fallen trees. Pulchritudinous is a series of fungi paintings that displays the sheer variety of species and beautiful patterns that hail solely from our local area. Fungus has never been revered for being beautiful, but by taking a closer look at these magnificent recyclers, the viewer is forced to see the intricate patterns and wide spectrum of color that was there all along. Even the word Pulchritudinous is an ugly term at first sight, but quite literally means “something of great physical beauty”. By playing with techniques that make objects appear more attractive, all of my work revolves around a change in perspective by viewing that which we look at negatively in a new light. By questioning and altering our perceptions of beauty, these works open our minds to accept the nontraditional.

In my series, Apophenia, I am examining instances in which one can mistake randomness for recognizable figures or features, such as a broken tree branch appearing as a bird in flight. In this interpretation of Apophenia I am looking for these patterns in plants specifically. 

Weeds is a collection of bleach paintings on fabric that I have been experimenting with. This series questions what we see as being beautiful. Weeds that we remove from our gardens can be just as aesthetically pleasing as the other flowers we replace them with. I am creating the image by removing the dye that was already apart of the fabric just as we remove many of the wildflowers that grow on our planet naturally. 

In my series, Impinged, I am generating emotions such as empathy and guilt to make you feel sorry for the subject, which in this case is the common housefly. I am also experimenting with alternative textures by incorporating a variety of oil mediums, powdered felt, and sand to create a whole new experience when viewing the paintings up close versus at a distance.
Nature has always inspired my work, but recently I have been thinking about the way people interact with nature and how these interactions affect it. This series discusses the impact humans have on our planet by using the fly as a symbol for an impinged world. Even though flies are nature’s recyclers and serve as a main food source for a great number of small creatures, humans perpetually contain, modify, and attempt to kill off their existence, and I find that a lot of similarities can be drawn to the ways that we treat our planet. My work is a visualization of this relationship. My work suggests a change in perspective and a reevaluation of our environmental footprint.