About Me

Bio:

Currently a college student working towards being an Art teacher in high schools, I have worked on developing my personal art practice and enriching what being an educator would mean to me. My art is based on my individual development as well as my growth into someone with roots and connections. Growing up in a Military household I moved around the United States and had the opportunity to witness with various communities across the country. However the nature of moving around frequently means that I also had short lived relationships and never found roots in any one place. With shortened time in new locations I learned to depend on mobile hobbies, like art. Today I reflect on how my childhood informs who I am today and how I continue to develop. In an attempt to build more meaningful roots in my adulthood I focus on the ways in which art intersects with life, this looks like aiding in art therapy classes, being a Museum docent, and more. In doing so I am expanding my self reflection based practice into building a community around me further developing my identity in relation to art. Because moving around extracurriculars were not possible, this left me relying on school for all of my social relations. Largely inspired by this, I am working on being an art teacher in the public school system in which I am hoping to create classroom based communities for students. The communities I am connecting with now allow me to build skills and relations for my future goal in being an art teacher.

 

Artist Statement:

As a young artist I primarily explore the ways in which my life experiences inform who I am today. I do this through self portraits that span my life and through symbols of development, as well as capturing moments of life in film and digital photography. In addition to photography I work in painting, drawing and mixed media, blending techniques and materials to create specific visual and tactile elements in my artwork. These elements often have a direct connection to the meaning of a piece such as overlap, which has a strong presence in my art as the translucent and layered aspects reflect my complex feelings and reality. Doing this I am also able to largely explore time and preserve the process behind pieces. This process is an important part of why I make art, as it’s the reflection of self that drives me. I find freedom in using intentional skills to explore new outcomes in works of identity, experience and reflection. In my photography I work towards capturing the feeling and emotion present with me in the moments that have been limited to still images. Photography works in a cyclical nature with my fine art, as the reference capturing and memory cataloging I am able to do with photography gives me fuel for future works.

My practice relies heavily on self reflection as well as community reflections, utilizing my passion for political science, literature and community based work I am slowly expanding my pieces from personal work to shared experiences. Not only using community to make my own art but also using my art to find and build community, through various events and volunteering efforts. While not present in a bulk of my current portfolio, I strive to continue connecting with local and broad communities around me.

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