statement

My current body of work focuses on the aftermath of both man made and natural disasters.  I archive, appropriate, then digitally manipulate found photographs.  I situate these images somewhere in between abstraction and representation in order to create a dialogue with modernist painting through postmodern practice.  I draw and paint these images not only to further slow them down, but to also support traditional notions of the "sublime landscape," one that is uncontrollably vast and frightening, within a contemporary context of anxiety and fear.  I choose to focus on moments of reprieve; quiet moments following a climax, where one can assess the physical and emotional damage created by previous events.  I am both drawn to these images and repelled by them.  They speak of a time where agenda setting, political rhetoric and consumption are perpetuated and often manufactured by the media.  As mass media sets the psychological and emotional tone for life as we know it, I work in an attempt to differentiate neurosis from my own understanding of reality.

bio

born: 1980, Waukegan, Illinois

education

Southern Illinois University-Carbondale MFA 2006
Western Illinois University BFA 2002

selected awards/honors

2012 Winner : Arkansas Arts Council Fellowship for Painting
2012 Faculty Research Award: Arkansas State University-Jonesboro

selected publications

New American Paintings Western Edition No. 90 Juror Toby Kamps; Senior Curator, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX
New American Landscape   Las Manos Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
New American Paintings Western Edition No. 84  Juror, Terrie Sultan, Director of The Parish Art Museum

selected solo or two-person exhibits

"Gentlemen Wear Black"  Bradbury Gallery, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR
"Things Fall Apart" Solo Exhibition University of Texas-San Antonio Satellite Space Gallery, San Antonio, TX
"Desire-Watercolors"  Two Artist Exhibition with Miles HalpernTomescu Art Gallery, Kennett, MO

selected group shows

5th Annual International Art Exhibition (Invitational)Buyeo Jeongnimsaji Museum, DanJin, South Korea
Concrete Jungle: Urban Art National Juried Exhibition  Mellwood Art Center, Louisville, KY  
Ceaseless: International Juried Exhibition  Centennial Gallery, Minnesota State Univ. Mankato, Mankato, MN
24th Annual McNeese Works on Paper Juried National Competition