FORM & FUNCTION

Merging art and science, it celebrates the diversity and fragility of nature.

● Why art?

Art is my native language. It is my most honed tool for discovering meaning in my life and sharing what I learn with others, whether it be academic, emotional, or spiritual. I have always been an artist, and I could not imagine a life without creativity as its foundation. I would not be whole without it. 

● What kind of artwork do you do?

I create scientific art with a technique I call Numberism, where I write thousands of tiny numbers and equations to form an image. The numbers come from immersive research and aim to represent form and function with scientific integrity and beauty. Through physics, chemistry, and numerical sequences, each piece represents something I’ve recently learned and is intended to celebrate the complex beauty of the natural world with others.

My medium is both subtractive and additive. I hand engrave with fine blades on scratchboard, metal, or glass that are coated with a layer of ink or oil paint. I also draw with micron pens on paper with a gouache background.

● What does your work aim to say?

That this world is beautiful, precious, and sacred, and that by understanding its complexities, we can find a path to protect it. My work is precise and academically informed, but at its heart, it is driven by love. My pieces are meant to reawaken the child in us who bravely explores the mysteries of the universe with endless questions and delight, recalling that it is wondrous and precious.

● What motivates and inspires you?

I’m inspired by questions and the unknown, by that urge to discover and reveal the complexities that are hiding just beneath the surface.  There’s this incredible complex biological dance living around us and within us every day, and so much of it remains undiscovered. I’m especially delighted when I find data that spans unrelated disciplines like geology and biology, because it reveals a commonality in form.  These moments that feel like I’ve caught a thread to something important.

I’m also inspired by the responsibility of scientific literacy in that I want to make education more accessible and engaging for our people.

● What process do you go through mentally when you are creating a piece?

I begin with a question and a visual inspiration, then I immerse myself in research using textbooks, research papers, and coursework, taking copious notes along the way. I then collect the data that most succinctly speaks for the subject and piece together a scientific portrait of the subject using this data. The research process is the most influential part, because it can change the original question and lead me to unexpected places, and I cannot begin drawing until I’m satisfied that I’ve found the correct data story to tell. It feels a little bit like each equation and numerical sequence represents a letter in the true name of my subject, and I’m doing my best to get the spelling right. My work takes so long, largely because finding that name takes time, and the path is never linear.

When I sit down at my art table, my approach is completely different. I focus on the tip of my blade as I scratch the tiny numbers into their new home, letting the concerns of the world fall away. It’s meditative and restorative. I often work in silence or with instrumental music while I draw for many hours.

● What role does the artist have in society?

To see, reflect, and speak for the people of our time. Art in any form communicates between hearts, minds, and spirits in a way that is difficult to quantify and impossible to replace.

Without art, we are isolated in our little bubbles of reality, stuck in old thought patterns and beliefs. Artists can pop that bubble by communicating in a way that reaches across vast distances and differences, landing on core essential elements within us where we can relate and then exchange new ideas. This moment of connection is where a lot of our societally agreed-upon goals and values stem from. I think artists remind us what we care about, where we are headed, and why.

 ● How do you navigate the art world?

I have a dedicated working art studio where I create my originals, and where my small team helps me produce fine art reproductions and screen-printed clothing. I have historically managed my art career independently and have built a community of collectors on the Patreon platform.

I collaborate with scientists and educators around the world, and I am focusing more on exhibiting my work in SciArt spaces that ignite curiosity with a larger audience.

● How has your practice changed over time?

When I started creating my scientific numberism art, I was self-taught in both art and science. I used my technique as a learning device and as a way to celebrate the beauty I found there with others. As my work evolved and I found myself working in public outreach, I realized I needed a stronger academic foundation to do this important work.

In 2020, I returned to school to earn my Bachelor of Science in Biology, determined to meet the same standard of rigor I admire in the work of scientific artists like Ernst Haeckel, Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Leonardo da Vinci, and Greg Dunn; artists whose pieces are both scientifically accurate and visually stunning.

Today, my work is more academically rigorous, is accompanied by citations, and is often created in collaboration with my growing scientific community of research scientists, educators, and medical professionals.

● What is the biggest challenge of being an artist?

As a self-employed artist who runs a small family business, the biggest challenge is establishing work-life boundaries and understanding that rest is part of the process. I often work 12 -14-hour days, researching at the studio long past midnight. Self-employed artists create their schedule and set their own pace. If you’re an obsessive perfectionist like me, this can be a problem.

● What themes do you pursue?

Anatomy, geology, ecological psychology, chemistry, and physics; the hidden patterns and microscopic dances that underlie the world we engage with at the surface.

● What is your dream project?

An immersive SciArt exhibit at a Natural History Museum that explores the evolutionary and morphological differences in vertebrate anatomy and how those differences relate to the lifestyles of the animals that inhabit them. Imagine an exhibit where my numberism illustrations are exhibited alongside articulated real skeletons of animals across evolutionary history, paired with audio, video, and infographics that teach you about their unique biology!  Ideally, the exhibit would have interactive lectures and opportunities for the public to engage in curiously creative projects where they could apply what they learned. This project would probably take me 2 or 3 years to complete.

● What superpower would you have and why?

 The ability to understand and communicate in all human and non-human languages. I think communication is at the heart of compassion and progress. When we can share ideas and lived experiences, we better understand each other and the world.

That or the ability to live outside of time so I could learn everything about this planet and create all the drawings I already have in my mind, and all those that are on their way.

● What is the biggest mistake you have made within your career to this point?

Trying to do it all. There are many ways to be a professional artist. The ADHDer in me decided to try them all, and kept too many of them for way too long. If I could go back, I would tell my younger self to simplify my focus. Saying yes to every opportunity that comes your way may not bring you where you want to go, but it will sure keep you busy.

● How have other artists or art genres influenced your sense of aesthetics?

Everything I have created has been shaped by the art of the world in ways I can’t hope to describe succinctly.  Being an artist means being open to growth and change, so all of the art I see has influenced my work, whether it’s something I saw in a museum, in my friend’s art studio, or on Instagram.

 ● How do you know when a work is finished?

During every stage of my process, I give the work time to develop without my direct involvement. Just spending time walking in Forest Park without the project in front of me can lead to “Aha!” moments that unlock a richer story or a stronger design. I have started projects over several times because of this, and while it means my work takes longer, I think the result is worth it. As for when it is finished.

When I understand the story I am telling, I know I am ready to draw. When I stop hearing that story in my mind, I know I have gotten it out, and the drawing is finished.