Artist Statement

For several years now, I have almost exclusively utilized architectural landscapes as my subject matter and reference material. My work always begins with traditional observational drawing, focusing on cluttered or architecturally complex spaces. Through my printmaking practice, my observational drawings are deconstructed, layered, and built up again so to experiment with the elements of space and structure.

This body of work delves into a new direction for me, one that explores a dark and personal history. I have become enveloped in the idea of constructing psychological portraits, which represent the human psyche as if it had a structural exoskeleton. Specifically, my interest is in the manifestation of poor mental health and the potential damage that ensues. My empathy stems from my own relationship with my mother, and the inevitable demise of our relationship. In a vain attempt to better understand her, these drawings reflect her and her relationships. I try to understand how delusions, severe hypochondria, depression, or obsessions can affect the structural integrity of an individual’s psyche...

Mary Ellen is paralyzed with fear, keeping everyone at an emotional distance. I desperately try to reach her, but cannot. She has built up a protective shelter around her; a barrier. I cannot get inside, nor can I see inside. Lacking structural soundness, it blurs reality with illusion. It grows like a cancer. It envelops her. And although dilapidated, it does serve its function – to keep you out.