Statement
My work is based on an old thought: the universe is unknown, and we live to know it. In paintings, drawings, and prints I emphasize the holy, the mystic, and the sacred. I advocate a return to ritual and a rejection of the ego. To do this, I base my work in the natural world, portraying flora and fauna in reference to totems, icons, and emblems. With delicate details and intricate compositions I emphasize the beauty of the known and the unknown and the importance of seeing both. My work is thus drawn from a collective history of curiosity, joining instead of referencing this search for truth.
A background in natural science informs my process, providing a base of knowledge I simultaneously affirm and reject. I press back on the finality of fact, calling on the folklore, myths and superstitions that once informed our being but have since fallen out of favor. By doing so, I invite the viewer to look deeper than scientific dogma in order to fully understand the world and their relationship to it.
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CV
EXHIBITIONS AND SHOWCASES
2020 Contributing artist to The Hand magazine, issue 28 (print)
Michigan Collegiate Art Exhibition, Lansing Art Gallery, Lansing, MI
Fresh Looks 2020, Ford & University Galleries, Eastern Michigan University,
Ypsilanti, MI
2019 As Above, So Below, GVSU Art Gallery, GVSU, MI (solo)
Rejected!, artlessbastard, De Pere WI
West Michigan Area Show, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MI
Student Scholars Showcase, GVSU, MI
Featured cover art for Fishladder, GVSU Student Literary Magazine
2018 Critters, artlessBastard, De Pere, WI
In Pursuit of Beauty, Grand Valley State University, MI (solo)
5th Annual Student Juried Exhibition, Grand Valley State University, MI
The Halloween Show, Padnos Gallery, Grand Valley State University, MI
2017 Edible Reflections, Padnos Gallery, Grand Valley State University, MI
(co-curated)
2016 Featured cover art for Sundog Lit, issue 11 (digital)
SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS
2020 Emerging Artist Award, East Lansing Arts Festival
2019 Excellence in a Discipline Award in Studio Art, GVSU
2018 Two Week Scholarship to Ox-Bow School of Art, GVSU
2017 Excellence in Foundation Work, GVSU
Merit Scholarship, Ox-Bow School of Art
2015 Art and Design Award, 2nd Place, Michigan Technological University
Visual and Performing Art Award, Michigan Technological University
RESIDENCIES
2020-21 Painting Resident, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MI
2015 Junior Artist, Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, Milford, IA
EDUCATION
2019 BFA printmaking emphasis
Grand Valley State University (GVSU), Allendale, MI
2015 BS biological science, magna cum laude,
Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI
PUBLICATIONS
2015 “Grey Road”, WOW! Women on Writing, flash fiction runner up, winter 2015
2014 “The Cloud”, Freeze Frame Fiction, volume i
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2017- 2019 Padnos Gallery Assistant, Department of Visual and Media Arts
GVSU, Allendale, MI
2018 After Hours Personnel
Ox-Bow School of Art, Saugatuck MI