Senior Thesis Artist Statement      

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I channel my artistic and creative energy into building my own hyperreal worlds through large scale landscape paintings. The thriving environments within my paintings invite me to escape the real world around me.

      As a kid in rural Indiana, I spent a lot of time exploring in the ravine and woods behind my house. And later, while traveling as an adult to a variety of landscapes across the country, I spent hours studying how the rocks, streams and wildlife existed harmoniously with each other. This influenced my emotional and spiritual attachment to my surroundings: I was intrigued by how all aspects of these environments were essential, and therefore I paint everything visually equal.

      As an active member of the Myaamia Nation of Indiana, I am also increasingly more curious about our tribal creation stories. This informs my current focus on painting environments with their own invented origins; while they don’t reference specific Miami narratives, I write their own stories myself. They are often composites of several different landscapes I have immersed myself in throughout the years, stitched together into a new space.

      My paintings at first glance look realistic, yet they often use a limited, enigmatic palette that evokes the sublime; they become powerful environments that transform and change on their own terms. Moody color shifts, translucent layering, rhythmic lines, and undulating shapes elevate the landscapes from mundane to fantastical and lively. These elements work together to create environments that transcend one specific location and exist in their own worlds that I invite viewers to explore.