Artist Statement

    In response to an interviewer asking how his audience sees him as an icon, Morrissey said, “It’s fascinating, because it implies that you are part of their life forever. And even if they go off of you eventually, you’ll always stay in their hearts somewhere, because it’s almost as if we’ve been through a certain period together that’s unforgettable.” He later mentions that this statement doesn’t hold the same weight with painting or writing, because it is done in solitude, but I disagree. I think that art should always foster memories in the people experiencing it, no matter the form. I remember countless occasions when I was so struck by a piece of work in a museum that the memory stayed with me. There was no physical outburst of emotion, as Morrissey expresses with his music, but there was something within the work that made me feel something and that is the most powerful aspect of any piece of art. If one can form a memory, just by experiencing a picture on a wall, or a thirty second film, or a poem, then I feel the artist has succeeded.

   Memory and dreams are a source of inspiration for my work. I have seemingly endless, vivid, strange, and fluid visions and I dream almost every night. It is through the process of remembering my dreams that I create most of my art. My goal is to create absurdist environments that mimic the style of my dreams and challenge the audience to interpret the meaning of my psyche for themselves.

   As a child there wasn’t anything more exciting to me than monsters, mystery, and magic. I was obsessed with The Nightmare Before Christmas, stop motion animation, and all of Tim Burton's films. He showed me a world that catered to the weird and the lonely, and I fell in love with the loneliness of it all. I fell in love with the dark humor and oddball heroines. From his movies, I began to watch other stop motion animations by Laika Studios. Then, in second grade I found myself watching Coraline repeatedly. I felt like she understood who I was at that time because we were both alone, curious, and overly imaginative. I began to notice that her determination and rebellious spirit were unconsciously taking root in me, in the best ways.

   To me, animating is a vehicle for exploring all of my interests: directing, screenwriting, drawing, sculpting, performance, songwriting, et al. Raised in New York by an artistic family, I was exposed to theaters, galleries, and museums and inspired by artists, such as, Mike Kelley, Romeo Castellucci, and Margaret Keane, to name a few. As someone relatively new to animating and filmmaking, I am hoping for opportunities to explore the many creative possibilities for thinking broadly about visual art and storytelling.