Statement from the exhibition, Perturbations of the Mind:

My work is an examination of the human condition through the filter of my individual consciousness. In parallel with the preoccupations of my mind, there are two main areas of thematic focus. The first concerns human experiences that I find confusing – violence, acquisition of material goods, fear, and separation. The second emphasis is placed on the part of life that I find most fulfilling – a sense of connection and unity. In order to break down these larger concepts, I seek to capture singular instances of thought and to communicate them through visual and written language. Each piece represents just one aspect of the larger whole.

In some of the work, I depict situations that attempt to convey aspects of major social problems. In particular, these include tendencies toward disconnected interaction with each other and the environment. In contrast, I view art as a catalyst for human connection, on both individual and universal levels. While my work often references specific situations in everyday life, it does so through a detached lens, in hopes that the audience is left open to examine how the content of the work may connect to their daily decision-making. I am interested in the complementary position of myself as an artist with the audience as both individuals and part of the larger collective of humanity. My conscious and unconscious thoughts are excerpts from the larger collective of all human thought. I share them in hopes of creating a unifying experience for the viewer, one that asks nothing more of them than their presence.

When I was wee, I began to notice that my subconscious mind assembles nonsense strings of words in the state between waking and sleeping. In recent years, I have documented these fragmented thoughts as I have become aware of them. The first half of this book presents a sampling of these instances.

The reverse side of this book contains unpolished, unplanned drawings from my sketchbook. I wanted to give them a home here for you to see.

Installation of 1,000 different, hand-printed cards with a unique thought written on the back of each one. Instructions displayed with the piece stated, "Please take the first card that attracts your attention. You may keep it."

The purpose of this installation was to create a unique connection with each member of the audience, as no two audience members would pull the same card. The piece also transitioned visually, forming different patterns as the cards were removed. When the final card was removed from a stack, what remained was a dark patch in the shape of the card that said "void."

The piece was created at a time when I was beginning to explore practices like mindfulness and meditation, and becoming more aware of each thought as an individual expression of energy. It felt very vulnerable to give away little pieces of my consciousness, without knowing who would be on the receiving end. I think a lot of our communication is tailored to who we think our audience is going to be, or if we're speaking to a group we might generalize things. These were very specific, intimate messages, which found a home with one, random person.

A series of etchings drawn directly onto zinc etching plates.