I create vegetal, bodily, and elemental forms / environments that exist in a state of metamorphosis. My work explores concepts of growth and decay, and my imagery recalls the eruptive, disintegrating, and radiating powers of natural phenomena and forces. These landscapes materialize on both macro and micro levels: galactic explosion / implosion; the collision of glacial and magmatic energies; organic decomposition and cellular generation.

My practice draws from an interest in Surrealist automatic theory. I wrote my MA thesis on Max Ernst’s Histoire Naturelle, situating his Natural History within the context of Surrealist automatism and Darwinian evolutionary theory. Histoire Naturelle is an appropriation of natural themes, forms, and cycles; similar to Ernst, my engagement with natural forms and utilization of semi-automatic techniques explore the link between nature and the physical and mental generation of forms.

I grew up in Columbus, Indiana and graduated from DePauw University in 2007 (BA Art History, BA Painting). After college, I moved to Oregon and completed a graduate program at the University of Oregon (MA Art History), and then I moved to Chicago, getting a BFA in painting from SAIC in 2012.

I spent three years living in Chicago, working as an arts editor for the Chicago arts publication Sixty Inches From Center, also working in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Ryerson and Burnham Libraries. I moved back to Oregon in 2014, and my wife and I live just outside of Portland with our two dogs. I recently chose to leave my role as the Treasury Analytics Manager with CorVel to look for a new career opportunity in an industry that is more in line with my love of the arts. I play piano, I am a huge soccer enthusiast, and I read a lot of fantasy books!