When I was still a child, I emptied my closet of clothes, squeezed in a small black drawing desk, and covered the walls with artwork. This was the beginning of my first studio. It was the moment I declared to the world that I was an artist.

I am an image based artist rooted deeply in the Midwest. While born in the suburbs of Indianapolis, the Midwest architecture and landscape continues to shape my understanding of people, place, and memory. I often look at creating visual narratives to explore the intricate dynamics of interpersonal relationships, illuminating their profound interplay with the environments we inhabit. I am interested in how these images show an evolving relationship between work and life, belonging and departure, presence and absence.

My work takes the form of constructed images often including aspects of installation. Through deliberate manipulation of the lighting, environment, and natural color of the work I transform familiar spaces into performative places of memory and emotion. The process of creating the work itself becomes an act of storytelling. Each decision from the artificial lighting, costuming, furniture, or prop I am using in the composition then becomes a purposeful part of the narrative I am unveiling. The work becomes a dynamic depiction of my interpretation of rural life in the Midwest with the goal of exposing poetic emotions to form a sense of nostalgia.

As a lens based storyteller, I challenge the viewer to think deeper about the specific narrative exhibited. Through my work, I examine societal norms as a means of provoking critical reflection on the fundamental emotions of human experience.