Artist Statement

The best part of being a boy scout was to explore the California wilderness with my friends and we would often stumble upon litter or someone’s abandoned dwellings. Seeing what was left behind, we would try to imagine whose it was and why they had left. In my early twenties, I would visit this cabin in the woods; it was old, but welcoming. With the carefree nature of early adulthood, I would leave behind my own detritus and suddenly I had become what had spurred my curiosity so many years ago. Now, the work that I make in my own studio is a combination of what is left behind, by both myself and others.

It’s not like I check every dumpster, but sometimes I’ll peek inside and see what the universe has to offer. There is something fascinating about the unexpected; the thrill of chaos draws me to working in spontaneous ways. My process in creating vessels and wall works is physical, I work directly to manipulate the material throughout different stages until a form emerges. Sometimes, I feel the need to lie next to my work like an anaconda before it consumes me and in this symbiotic relationship between my process and me, I hope to understand myself through constant stimulation of the material.  

I am drawn to the unpredictability of clay, glaze and glass used in combination with one another. As I work with materials, I am interested in bringing beautiful form and surface to the overlooked and forgotten places I see each day, pulling textures and compositions from memory. These could be familiar spaces, aspects of abandoned buildings, or trash I see on the side of the road, any remnants of decay or ruin that one may define as detritus. 

I love the challenge of trying to make things work together, adapt to each other visually and technically - to be purposeful in their substance and in their value and meaning. I try to translate these moments that may soon be gone into a material statement that will last forever.