Informed by my professional background in funeral services, my artwork investigates themes of memento mori through the lens of funerary customs. The overarching goal of my studio practice is to foster open dialogue, challenge taboos, and normalize death, dying, and grief as natural, inevitable parts of life.
My drawings and paintings explore funerary ritual from the past and modern times, directly inspired by how mourning traditions aid the bereaved in recovery from loss. My work is centered upon documenting these emotional and formal frameworks that funeral traditions provide, seeking out the moments where sincerity, beauty, and acceptance emerge from the encounter with death. By bringing these rites into the light through art, I aim to encourage a more honest and comfortable public engagement with mortality, aligning with the movement's mission to demystify our final transition.
My painting technique combines precise drawing with a highly textured surface. Rooted in realism, I like to keep the focal areas smooth for clarity while building up the rest of the painting through layered scumbling, scraping, and direct brushwork. This method of paint application gives the artwork a tactile quality reminiscent of a stone surface.
Troweling on the paint keeps the surface quality vibrant, aggressive, and energetic—a contrast that complements melancholic atmospheric motifs with a sense of brooding spiritual, or dreamlike depth. This material tension confronts mortality directly: acknowledging the somber reality of loss while insisting on the vibrant, energetic beauty of life that remains.
2024- Carbon County Art Guild Exhibitions: "Inspired by Song" + "Art in the Beartooth's Silent Auction" + Member Show + Community Show
2018- Great Falls Tribune Montana Public Radio 89.9FM KRTV KFBB-TV KULR-8 ABC-FOX MONTANA Powell Tribune KTVQ KXLH KGPR
2018- KRTV NEWS - Broadcast News Story - Sunday, 1-28-2018 Montana