Statement.

My work – like my life – revolves around the ontological framework structured in my childhood while sitting in the third seat (from the right) on the front row of my father’s church. While growing up in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles colored my vision with layers of indoctrination, Christian nationalism, and religious sensationalism, the presence of the miraculous, prophetic, and ritualistic brought a constant theological axis of meaning to the way which I approached (and approach) the world around me. While the doctrinal rigidity of my upbringing has softened itself, the presence of these ideas, concepts, and practices are undeniable in the overarching premise of my work. My visual works and (possibly even moreso) performative rituals serve as simulations of Divine encounters, which prompt the viewer to question their own positional relationship to the Divine (then triggering a sort of ‘sublime/divine encounter’). The use of liturgy, religious tropes and archetypes, sacral installation, and chromatic symbology all serve as pathways through which to specify this spiritual simulacra and to open access points into the works for the viewer. The incorporation of the extra-aesthetic serves as a potent reminder, to myself if not others, of the emotional and physiological transcendence of the Divine, its defiance of categorization and one-dimensionality, and the relevance of time and performance in the spiritual life. To take a step back, my work stands as a testament to my own spiritual walk and positional relationship to the Divine (in whatever shape or fashion it may be) at work in the fabric that surrounds us all.

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​Education.

August 2020 - December 2023

Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN - Bachelor of Fine Arts, Fine Arts Studio (Concentration in Drawing and Painting) - Minor in Art History​​

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August 2023 - Expected May 2026

Yale University, New Haven, CT - Master of Arts in Religion, Religion and the Arts