Redemption: Absolution. Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Philadelphia, PA). Digital photograph. Click image to view in slide show.
Redemption: Atonement. Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Philadelphia, PA). Digital photograph.
Redemption: Confession. Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Philadelphia, PA). Digital photograph.
Redemption: Crucible. Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Philadelphia, PA). Digital photograph.
Redemption: Revelation (Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Philadelphia, PA).
This series of photographs examines the abandoned prison cells of Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Penitentiary subscribed to a theory of rehabilitation that proscribed confinement and a lack of interaction with other inmates. This ran counter to the prevailing system in the United States at the time where harsh physical punishment was the norm. Ideas of church and religious experience are embodied in the building and served as a guide for how prisoners should be rehabilitated: hallways looked like that of a church; low doorways required one to bow and seek penance from a greater power; and a single small skylight, acting as the “eye of God” lit each cell.
Visual Haiku: Unrealities I (Visual Poem No.55). Triptych, Archival Inkjet Print on Rag Paper. Click image to view in slide show.
Visual Haiku: Boundaries I (Visual Poem No.59). Triptych. Archival Inkjet Print on Rag Paper.
Visual Haiku: Reflections II (Visual Poem No.60). Triptych, Archival Inkjet Print on Rag Paper.
The photographs in these “visual poems” were taken with a Holga toy camera in the Far East; they represent research undertaken into Chinese and Japanese aesthetic principles and traditions of representation. The elements and principles of art have been used to translate the characteristics of Japanese short poetry – such as economy and the linking of dissimilar things – into the syntax of visual language. As wordless artworks, however. the poems consist entirely of the associations and allusions suggested by the images; the viewer / reader decides the meanings as the poems are open-ended and meditative, having floated free of words.
My passion for music, archaeology, and branding often shows up in my artwork. Much of my work features remnants of pop culture, with themes infused of spiritual, chronological, and ontological motifs. My work is created with a variety of media — typically ink, watercolor, and acrylic — as well as digital tools like Illustrator and Photoshop. Tinkering with a synthesis of hand-drawn sketches and digital manipulation, I continue to explore the rewarding, often meandering, paths to visual narrative.
Incandescent Metatonia, gouache on paper. Click image to view in slide show.
The Dew of Eos, gouache, recovered life jacket, mixed media on wood.
Sea of Loss, gouache on wood panel.
Ephemeral Propinquity, gouache on paper.
Numinous Lethologica, gouache on paper.
The Transference of Weight, gouache on paper.
In my works, I attempt to capture some of the narratives that I heard from first-hand accounts while volunteering on Lesvos Island in Greece in December of 2016. What I’ve discovered thus far, is that the refugees are from all around the world, rather than only being from Syria as depicted in the media. I have also come to discover that the news coverage on the topic is often sensationalized, and even sometimes re-enacted for the sake of reporting. The stories of the local villagers and the volunteers seem often forgotten or ignored, and the refugees are used in narratives that sometimes are simply not true. More importantly, I wish to capture the humanitarian tale amongst this crisis, hoping that in turn, my viewers can be inspired to assist refugees or anyone who has suffered a great loss due to manmade or natural disasters.
Untitled 1. Photograph. Click image to view in slide show.
Untitled 2. Photograph
Untitled 3. Photograph
Untitled 4. Photograph
Untitled 5. Photograph
When we think about light, it is generally in the context of it projecting through the medium of air. Light reaches onto objects and by its reflection on the surface renders them visible. However, when light projects through the medium of water, it behaves differently. Water acts more like a lens that distorts in a number of ways, bubbles, amplification in size, murkiness, etc. When photography attempts to capture light in the liquid medium it relies on conventions established by the medium of light. The liquidity of light would be a state in which the immaterial of light projecting through water gives it materiality. They both become something else, light becomes a property of the liquid and vice versa: the liquidity of light.
Triple Layer, multi-media. Click image to view in slide show.
Seated, multi-media.
Loost, multi-media.
Lateral Movement, multi-media.
1, multi-media.
Through mixed media painting and drawing, I experiment with the pictorial function of words by deconstructing textual elements alongside organic forms. The integration of collage media provides a way to establish a visual dialogue between both natural and manmade symbols. The resulting imagery is gradually developed through the layering of paint with castoff bits gathered from unexpected sources. Paper scraps, eroded bits of plastic, vinyl lettering, discarded signage, fabric remnants, and old drawings ultimately find links to one another, fitting together much like a puzzle.
Untitled, collage. Click image to view in slide show.
Untitled, collage.
Untitled, collage.
In my collages, I mine popular visual culture to explore experiences of mood and an altered sense of reality. These collages reflect, through juxtaposition, an experiencing of a reality different from those experiencing consensus-reality, yet simultaneously they remain relatable in a way that forms a new sensibility. Given their small-scale, they function much like snapshots and spontaneous occurrences.
