Fascinated by the patterns of the universe.
● Why art?
A strong urge for exploration fuels my creative process. As an artist it is my privilege to experiment with novel concepts and techniques.
● What kind of artwork do you do?
Laser cut wood relief with marquetry and watercolor elements.
● What does your work aim to say?
There is a foundation that underlies reality that we all understand intuitively but are mostly blind to; that the chaos we see often has organized rules that can be examined and explored.
● What motivates and inspires you?
Most of my work is a reflection of the content I've ingested over the years. Everything from physics lectures to hikes in the mountains to the artwork I see from around the world, all become distilled and reinterpreted into basic shapes that I reorganize.
● What process do you go through mentally when you are creating a piece?
I often sketch ideas that come to me, but rarely do these directly translate into finished pieces. Instead, they are conversation starters for myself, guideposts that I can use as I work through solving the problems that arise out of a design. How these problems get resolved ends up determining the direction of the piece.
● What role does the artist have in society?
Artists are given the freedom to push boundaries, to reinterpret social norms, and create conversations about alternative futures. The role of artists is to explore new territory and ways of doing things.
● How do you navigate the art world?
With a hunger for fresh ideas. Even if an aesthetic doesn't appeal to me, simply examining another artist's technique or inspiration can help me on my path.
● How has your practice changed over time?
In the beginning of my career most of my exploration revolved around trying to figure out my style. Though in some ways finding a style locks you into a certain paradigm, in other ways it unlocks a depth of possibility that isn't accessible before committing to a framework.
● What is the biggest challenge of being an artist?
The tension between pure art and commercial viability.
● What themes do you pursue?
My work tries to cohear abstracted geometry and philosophic elements. Using fractals or girih tiles as representations of human expression creates a grey space that allows viewers to fill in gaps with their own experiences.
● What is your dream project?
Much of my laser cutting journey has been about learning both the tools and techniques to create large scale artwork. It would be a dream to make an enormous piece that is on display in a public space.
● What superpower would you have and why?
Teleportation would be extremely handy for setting up at shows or grabbing materials you forgot at the store.
● What is the biggest mistake you have made within your career to this point?
I have a tendency to retreat into my workshop and focus on my personal projects when the truth is being a successful artist is as much about networking as it is about making art.
● How have other artists or art genres influenced your sense of aesthetics?
Much of my work is an amalgamation of influences from my past: my early tech career put me on the path of working with machines, my formal art training means I'm always looking to integrate pigment, and the endless supply of artists online means I'm constantly inspired to try something new.
● How do you know when a work is finished?
When I've run out of time! There is always a compulsion to revisit old work and tweak a design, which I have done on multiple occasions. The desire to create new art, however, means at some point an older work must be left alone.
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