Grounding Series Artist. Statement, 2021

Since I do not remember most of my childhood, in the struggle to make sense of my life, my solitude has thrown my ego in the ring with my spiritual journey. I’m always searching for things that contribute towards my ever-evolving self identity in the comfort zones of specific documentation, arbitrary linkages, and fantastic imagined lands. This has become the basis of my art.

My initial impulse for even staring back at a sketchbook with pencil in hand was to eventually connect, if even briefly, to those furthest from me but interlocked by blood. I admired my father who loved art and dabbled in it when I was my youngest and remembering. We were mostly miles apart and some days I forgot what he looked like with only the sound of his voice during calls connecting me to our familial relationship.

I find myself substituting the indefinite history of myself for something tangible and concrete, noticing that most of the answers exist within nature. In the permeation of sunlight onto greenery, I see a hopeful self-portrait. In the reflective puddle imitating the sky, I come across reminders of the opportunity and vastness of this plane. 

Within my work resides an exaggeration of being present within the noise with constant themes including acknowledgment of foundations like the body, looking to nature for wisdom, and extreme depictions of rest. I meditate on the concept of ‘grounding’ which is a familiar term used when describing processes one can take to balance their physical, emotional, and mental state with hopes to reconnect more with themselves.

Using skewed mechanisms of pointillism in paintings to connect back to the freckles on my skin, every painting ensues an autobiographical element larger than a signature. Using pictures I take and find in my human experience to finesse and create different compositions relates to the possibilities we humans can conjure up. Using found objects and recycled materials in my sculptures give shape to my everyday feelings, through everyday objects.

The constant of nature inspires the consistency of my work which all become mirrored projections of me that will continue to grow with time. It is my aim that viewers will also see their own struggles with self-understanding in my work.