I am a maker who admires the artistry expressed in both written and visual language. Seeking to put stories into the world, I find joy in the process of painting, writing, and illustration.

I long for the what-else-is. My work reaches outside the boundaries of the perceived world as I pursue a desire for something more than what is real. Following a feeling of wonder and a nostalgia for narratives beyond the physical or literal, I translate myself into fantastical, animated, and bizarre portraiture because what is just isn’t enough. 


I create these paintings and drawings using oil paint, pastels, and watercolors. My largely representational self-portraits’ statuesque poses and at times mythological imagery recall historical painting tradition, particularly the supplicant expressions and rippling monstrous forms of religious artwork. I supersede the sculptural forms of my self-portraits with exaggerated colors and linear, illustrative elements that emphasize the narrative rather than the reality of the image.

Looking back, what advice would you give yourself?

To make good drawings, you have to make a lot of bad drawings. To make good paintings, you have to make a lot of bad paintings. To write well, you have to write poorly at any opportunity! To improve, you have to allow yourself to be imperfect. It's okay!

As much as I didn't feel like this in the moment, I look back with a lot of love on the late nights (and early mornings) working on projects with other artists in the studio. Building relationships and creating our work together, helping each other improve through critique and encouragement turned those long nights into happy memories.

I enjoyed Drawing 2 a great deal. I consistently created work I'm most proud of. It was wonderful to see myself improve over the course. The aspect of Drawing 2 I loved the most was figure drawing from live models!

What moment, project, and/or critique in your Art + Design career at AU has been pivotal to who you are as an artist or creator?

My first time painting. I'd never really tried it before I enrolled in my first painting course here at AU. I was a graphic design major my freshman year, but when I took painting 1, I had such a passion for the work that I made the decision to change to a Studio Art major with a concentration in Painting & Drawing. 

I'm aiming to work in book publishing as an editor, bringing my love of language to a career that would help me elevate the writing of talented authors. In my own time I want to continue my daily painting and drawing studio practice.

I want my art to stir the same feelings of wonder and desire to create that the work of so many talented writers and artists has inspired in me.

I'm working on a series of self-portraits. Most are oil paintings, but some use materials such as watercolor and pastels. I combine representational portraits with some more abstracted, expressive, or illustrated elements to emphasize emotion and narrative. I want the works to convey a sort of longing for a variety of imagined un-realities.