Who are you?
I'm an American visual artist based in Madison, Wisconsin. My work explores the nature of cultural and geopolitical boundaries, and the thresholds of human perception of space and information. A fascination with escapist strategies common in contemporary society, such as fantasy, gaming, vacationing, entertainment media, drugs and meditation and so on, is informing my most recent creative exploration. I utilize whatever means or media are necessary to realize ideas, but academic work in printmaking, graphic design, advertising and photography certainly influence various aspects of my process and style. My recent work, which culminated in a series of three solo exhibitions titled Beneath the Underdog, Blunder Drawings, and Test Me, reference 21st century music culture, crowd-sourcing, graffiti, and postmodern conceptions of authorship, appropriation and pastiche.
What are you inspired by?
I'm inspired by literature, travel, great contemporary innovators of music, art, philosophy and society, and the unbridled enthusiasm all children have for their world.
What was the last movie you watched?
...was The Forbidden Room by Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin. I've recently been working through his entire body of brilliant work.
What was the last book you read?
I just finished reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, which I took on for both pleasure and research.
Do you have any role model?
At the moment, Rainer Maria Rilke's book Letters to a Young Poet is the closest thing I could cite to a role-model presence in my internal world.
What is your next creative project?
One current project, titled “≠”, investigates, through print and audio-visual works, transformations of content and perception that occur when a written literature work is translated. My study concentrates on two versions of “The Garden of Forking Paths”, a short story by Jorge Luis Borges. I'm also working on an artist book project called Missing, that investigates the nature of losing [things].
What do you like about Portfoliobox?
I like that on Portfoliobox I'm able to easily produce a website that functions as an authentic extension of my own identity. Here I'm able to keep the design and navigation incredibly simple and very easy to navigate. My work, and simple matters of taste (like type style/formatting, color choices, and a no-nonsense aesthetic) communicate all that I need to get across. I also appreciate that I can use several different portfolio formats. Some groups of my work feel best in a long, blog-like indefinite vertical scroll, and some read better in a slideshow format.
