I was born and raised on the central coast of california and currently live and work in sussex, england.
As a child I loved connecting deeply with the unseen world of sensations through movement and stillness, and imagination through drawing and reading. My practice now echoes that, as I often receive imagery during meditation, and use sensations in my body as jumping off points for visualising and executing my work.
Children’s book illustrations, old toys, graphic novelist chris ware, yoshitomo nara, Mama Earth, and my feeling states have all been big influences on my work.
Though I received my BFA at California College of the Arts in sculptural ceramics, I feel like my style was deeply influenced while I was working as an apprentice illustrator in the digital features department of Industrial light and Magic. The playful world of animation, and the drawings and illustrations that allowed stories to come to life sparked a desire to connect more deeply with the ‘characters’, or aspects of my psyche, that were calling for time and attention. I think the simplified figures and shapes coordinate with the desire to connect with the younger parts of myself, and leave room for complexity within them.
What feels most important in my practice at this time is deeply connecting with what is calling for attention within, and creating from there as much as the conscious mind will allow it.