From the dawn of time, before humanity figured out housing, agriculture, or exploration, we have created art. Ancient petroglyphs reside in caves, a fraction of the total which must have been created and lost to time. The oldest pottery found has been dated from over 16,000 years ago. The oldest woven baskets, over 12,000. Before we had written or formalized spoken language, we drew, a language which transcends limitations of the tongue and the confines of reality itself. While words allow us to describe, art has the visceral power of being able to depict the future and bring it into being. My art continues that tradition by bridging the gap between what is and what can be.
My art is experimental, whether it’s creating structures from recycled material, painting with ash, or refurbishing the existing work of artisans who came before me. I often begin with a hypothesis and a composition, fusing my scientific and artistic passions with the working knowledge of a tradesman to actualize the projects I attempt.
My art is personal. I put my sweat, tears, and occasionally blood, into every one of my works. My decisions are influenced by the relationships I have with the people around me; other artists who collaborate with and often teach me, clients who direct specific projects and their tastes, and friends who are happy to furnish me with schemes for challenging endeavors. I am proud to have a body of work whose members were largely conceived during meetings of the mind, just as I am proud to have met so many insightful and creative people.
My art is something to experience. In a world filled with anxiety over the rising threat of digital replication, I fight back with reminders of the real. You can see a cutting board I’ve made on your phone and see what it looks like, but it won’t bring you the texture 180-grit sandpaper brought to its surface or the warm scent of coffee wafting off of the beeswax varnish I harvest and process from my personal beehives.
Bio
I’m from Chicago and Atlanta, the child of two metropolises which might as well have been worlds apart. Split between regions, each visit illustrated to me how I was slowly losing my cultural place as a Chicagonian as I grew more comfortable with the food, drink, and language of the south. Perhaps it was here that my interest in perspective and the subjectivity of reality began.
I’ve always had a particularly civic nature due to a chance encounter with Nietzsche in high school, which began my personal study of philosophy. For this reason, in addition to the other less noble reasons young men go to war, I chose to enlist in the army shortly after school. This is what began my technical background and where I received training as a satellite communications operator and eventually team chief. Much like the inspiration for my plum de nom, Rod Serling, and many other veterans, I struggled with my mental health after service. I found conflict in the mission I’d wholeheartedly signed up for and the outcomes it produced for all parties involved which produced such a disillusionment that nothing in my life felt like it would provide me satisfaction until I found a way to live a life in line with my ideals. After traveling for some time, I found myself in Reno, where I established both community and stability for myself. This is where I met my lovely wife Anna, who I married at Burning Man.
During this period, I started working as an electrician. Given the housing crisis, I felt that it would be an occupation that I could both enjoy, profit from, and provide a public good with. I built multiple facilities out on USA Parkway, multifamily housing in town, and even a skating rink, to name a few things. Each job taught me a ton, not only the electrical elements that make it up, but the many ways in which my trade was involved with others; I even got to learn the specific details of how manufacturing Trex wood or Tesla cars through work on their assembly lines.
While I take and took pride in my work as a construction electrician, ultimately, I am an artist. While I was living the above paragraphs, I would always make time to draw and learn more about artistic theory, it only made sense that I become one. New career in mind, I left the trades in order to pursue a bachelor’s in fine art, which is where you find me, now. Currently, I’m enrolled in school, while I work as a beekeeper and artist during most of my free time. Most days (or nights, more likely) you can find me at The Generator working on my latest experiment.
You can find my work under the gallery tab or you can follow me on instagram to see my latest updates.