Artist Bio

I depict ethereal realms that merge my queer experiences of digital space with my training in traditional painting methodologies. As a closeted young person growing up in the Midwest, I found a safe haven of creativity and fantasy in sandbox-style video games like Minecraft and Animal Crossing. In my adulthood, these virtual realms remain a rich source of inspiration.

Close looking and slow accumulation are key characteristics of my artistic practice, which often begins with a very meticulous stretching and priming of the canvas. The entire process of a painting’s creation and lifespan is enchanting to me, and I want the viewer to feel my enchantment and devotion to that process.

The peculiar and the uncanny are magnified in my paintings, which also contain imagery pulled from my growing collection of miniature toys and odd antiques (such as rubber insects, model-train figurines and dollhouse furnishings). Renaissance techniques like sfumato and cangiante add subtle nuances of color, light, and texture. The paintings mainly fall into art-historical categories of still-life, landscape, minimalism, and abstraction.

Personally, I see them more aligned with the art of religious iconography. For this reason, I continue to study with rigor a varied range of spiritual and contemplative traditions alongside my creative endeavors. I see the studio as a very sacred space, and the art-making as an extension of my everyday spiritual practice—a path through which I cultivate devotion, love and awareness.

My craft aims to bridge my inner- and outer-worlds. The paintings are like rabbit holes—

viewers may be initially drawn in for one reason or another,

but then they end up falling down into my private domain.

(See Paintings and Other Projects for images)