My work abides in this deeply personal space in which others can relate. It is about family, community, and connections, without being any of those things. I have always been interested in diversity, people, and societal constructs. Yet it never occurred to me that those interests were compatible until I was faced with creating my own narrative through making.

As a painter, printmaker, and sculptor, I have strived not just to capture the sitter’s likeness, but their essence. This has always been my goal, and I believe that I have accomplished that end. For the most part, I paint people I know. My family. At first, it started out as an exercise of convenience, but slowly it took on a life of its own, and it emerged with its own life. Knowing them so well has allowed me to insert that thing that makes them unique. In a way, it transcends the real and the external. The image then begins to render the internal self.