In many of your pieces, the motifs of furtniture are often utilized. What is the purpose behind these depictions?
I used to work exclusively with the human figure as the main subject, but after speaking with fellow artists working with objects as symbolic references, I began taking interest in objects as primary subject matter. I am very interested in furtniture that gives off feelings of home and comfort, as well as objects that feel fragile and intricate, hence my interest in glass and lattice structures.
You've done sculpting, oil painting and drawing— what's your favorite art form?
I really enjoy all of these mediums very much. I hope to continue working with them in the near future. I am currently most interested in drawing, as I am able to achieve a lot of intricacies even within a small surface area. Most of my drawings don't exceed 9x12", but because of this, I can explore many compositions and concepts in smaller amounts of time. Especially, without losing detail. This fast-paced tone has been incredibly helpful in my style exploration.
What is the process of turning your black and white sketches into it's full colorful works of art? How do you choose which colors to use?
I use mechanical pencils on sketchbook paper to create the base drawing, and then scan or photograph my sketches. From there, I import my images into Procreate and use the direct selection tool to lasso out areas of the drawing and use the gradient maps tool to color. Procreate has a few default options but I usually make my own or tinker with pre-existing ones. I usually have a very vague idea about the general atmosphere of the drawing and use a gradient map to tinge the entirety of the drawing to that color. Then, I pick out certain objects that I have an idea of a color for. I never really know what a drawing will look like until I'm finished with the color picking so, it is a process of trial and error. From there, I paint on top of the drawing, or play with layer blending modes and other settings like bloom, gaussian blur, or noise until I'm satisfied with the results.
There are so many child characters throughout your work. How does childhood and child fun enhance your work? Would you ever use motifs of adulthood?
Indeed! I think when I depict childlike figures, I really am harkening back to a younger version of myself, and in doing so, I feel like I am able to work out some of the knots and tribulations of my child self. I consider my work to be very highly encoded, and I strive for many pieces to instill calmness, or a sense of peaceful melancholy. I've been playing with the concept of authority figures and higher powers in my work, and enjoy the idea of a figure that is much wiser than my current and child self. I'm unsure of what an adulthood motif would entail, but I would like to expand my visual vocabulary to possibly more mature themes. Ultimately, I hope to preserve a sense of dreamscape and childlike whimsy in my work— at least for the time being.