Artist Statement

My work has been very heavily influenced by the trauma’s I’ve incurred since childhood and by my struggles to survive on the fringes of society. In 15 years of working alongside sex workers of all stripes (occasionally as a sex worker myself) and 6 years taking cases as a professionally licensed Private Investigator in Portland, Oregon; I have developed an intimate relationship with the underbelly of American society. Sculpture has provided me with an outlet to explore areas of pain and unpleasantness that I was long afraid to touch on in my art as a painter. Bronze specifically, has become my preferred medium of expression and through the complicated and demanding processes of lost wax casting I am able to and/or forced to truly consider every aspect of my pieces. The ancient alchemy of lost wax bronze casting has roots in cultures all over the globe and remains today a superb medium for contemporary art due to its versatility, durability and the quality of its finish. I approach art making in a very raw emotional way but then throughout the various processes I must go through to give a thought or emotion form; and then transmute that form into another material, I am forced to reconcile or investigate that original thought or emotion thoroughly. 

There are two primary sculptural disciplines that my work utilizes; both are united by my preference for Silicone Bronze as a final material. One is the traditional mode of sculpting/modeling clay and the other is life casting. I find life casting to be an excellent tool for some of my more visceral concepts since the ability to cast fingerprint level detail in metal can create objects with incredibly potent presence. Whereas the more traditional approach with clay is perfect to explore work that is more spiritual or contemplative with a focus on gesture or portraiture.  

I am very much obsessed with the art making process and do all of the mold making and bronze casting myself. I even went so far as to build my own kiln and establish a foundry at my home studio in Portland, Oregon where I do most of my work. Engaging in demanding artistic processes has proven to be significantly healing for me and has given me the tools I need to investigate and understand my place in the world. 

My biggest primary artistic influence from history is easily Edgar Degas. As a painter and as a sculptor, Degas work weighs heavily on my mind with his approach to composition being the most significant contribution. I frequently utilize severe cropping as a powerful compositional tool and I owe that to Degas for sure. Several contemporary artists have had a great influence on my work as well like Fred Wessel: known for his masterful egg tempura paintings, Lloyd Glasson: one of the greatest figurative sculptors of the 20th Century, Stephen Brown: a true master of oil color and Nathan Orosco: an incredibly dynamic experimental sculptor with mastery over vast array of art making techniques. In a more general sense, my work carries influences from the Italian renaissance, baroque painting, and 19th century France (the whole damn century; from neo classicism all the way to post impressionism).