"Just Take The Train" Featured at Falls Church Arts Gallery in Falls Church VA.

My artwork was featured at the “Vivid!” show, at Falls Church Arts Gallery in Falls Church, VA. Juried by Barbara Januszkiewicz

Long have I dreamed about the inner workings of a city. What happens in the lives of all the individuals who travel through the different intersections? Do they move to their dreams or run from their fears? Whatever journey I find myself on I always know wherever I go, it was lit by the colors left behind by the travelers who came before me. This artwork was originally a photograph taken in New York City which was then rearranged into this convergence of lives.  

This artwork was part of my SPAO first year end of year project “Paraiso”

"Paraiso" Featured in "Altered States" Show At Alliance Gallery in Arlington, VA.

“Paraiso” was featured in Arlington Artist’s Alliance’s October show “Altered States” Juried by Rosemary Feit Covey of the Torpedo Factory.

This artwork was part of my SPAO first year end of year project “Paraiso”

Humanize the Enemy

The world feels different from when I was growing up. We were taught and celebrated what was natural and given to us freely by nature. But in recent years, it’s felt like there has been a shift in priority. Blue water that runs freely still runs. But now it is withheld from everyone who is not at the top of the hill. It’s like kindness was only a phase of teenage angst that has since shaken itself out. The world around us, parched, suffers into a cloud of fire and smog. All while we all watch the water flow. 

SPAO Exhibition No19: Hologram

This was one of the two pieces I displayed at my graduating show on SPAO’s 19th annual exhibition

I’ve always had this idea in my head since I was young. Growing up in the iPhone age, most of my friendships have existed in the digital world, through Skype, Snapchat, and Facetime. I rarely saw friends face to face; even my best friend lived more than 500 miles away for most of our friendship. People became voices and icons on a screen like a ghost or spirit that posessed the device that I was talking to them on.

I constructed the hologram as an original sculpture and then photographed it. I then displayed this piece in an iPad case to express its portable digital nature.

SPAO Exhibition No. 19 →

This is my graduating exhibition!

My works were presented at the School of Photographic Arts: Ottawa 19th annual Exhibition Alongside other artists, including Kam Woloschuk (@nicewizardgirl), Kaya Comeau (@k.a.y.a.p.h.o.t.o) Jude J Peter (judejpeter), Liam Lalonde, Aish (@Memoizee), Kate Oakley, Matrine Marie-Anne Chartrand (@touskifaitoutmartine) and Manfred Muller (@Manfredm001)

I was proud to present my artworks “You have to Live” and “Hologram” in the gallery at the School of Photographic Arts: Ottawa as well as present my photobook titled “You Have To Live” documenting the artworks and turbulent story of my two year education at SPAO

In these artworks as well as the contents of the book I continued my exploration in finding my voice in art, building on the methods used in last year’s exhibtion

Please follow the link to see other works

SPAO Open House 2023 "Change of Plans"

Change of Plans

They had kept to plan for the majority of the build. Looks like they lost funding nearing the end of the build and had to find another investor. You can see almost the exact moment that change happened. The city needed housing, and they got it. They weren't in a position to complain. Talked to the engineers and they were baffled. They did measurements and somehow it's safe. Must be by sheer willpower or stupidity that's keeping it standing.

Y’know, I didn't plan on living here. This city was the only one I could find a job in…What a strange place to live in. All these buildings crawling all over each other, I’d say this was madness, but this just.. seems right.

Scaffolding

It’s about appreciating steps you take to get somewhere. Sure it's not anywhere near where you want it to be. But I’ll say… Damn it, look at what I’ve got set up thus far. Look at the shape that it's making, look at how it's ready to be anything I want it to be. I'm proud of it and whatever it will be. It won't be like this forever but for now lets just sit and watch.

The original photo was taken on a water taxi coming back from Gatineau on the Ottawa river. I was with my partner. It was raining. No one else wanted to be a tourist in that kind of weather. The photograph is actually of scaffolding on the parliament building way, way above where we were on the water. It was quiet that day. I don't recall those days being very fun at the time. This particular day was a nice rest from it all. 

I have this extreme interest in being on boats. Or standing on a large moving vehicle. Like those walkways at the airport. Moving so fast and being able to walk around. The movement, the kinetic energy of being propelled with effort that isn’t my own for once. It makes me happy. It settles me. 

Most of my life I have felt like I was in the driver’s seat. Restricted from relaxing. Boats have just figured out how to just glide. With plenty of space to move. It was a wonderful $8 CAD for both ways spent.

SPAO Exhibition No. 18 →

My works were presented at the School of Photographic Arts: Ottawa 18th annual Exhibition Alongside other artists, including Kam Woloschuk (@nicewizardgirl), Kaya Comeau (@k.a.y.a.p.h.o.t.o) Jude J Peter (judejpeter), Liam Lalonde, Aish (@Memoizee),

My artwork set presented, titled “Paraiso” explore the manipulation of the shape of the modern cityscape. Nearly all the artworks presented are based from single master image, photographed in New York City in december of 2021.

Please follow the link to see other works

The Beauty of the Remnant

Destruction is such an easy concept for humanity to grasp. You don’t have to be precise, you don’t have to think too much, just take a swing.

I haven’t until now decided to reveal my series of stories. I have been writing for just over two years a set of stories covering humanity’s next steps into the solar system.

For this artwork I am visualizing a portion of the third book in the series. In this book I am exploring the innate destructiveness of humanity. It takes place on Mars around 300 years from now. Humanity has been given a playground on Mars. A desolate and barren wasteland. Technology has evolved to a point to where Immortality through digital means can be achieved. Your body can die but your soul and mind can survive in a digital device that can be placed into a new body once the time comes, if you choose to do so.

The afterlife is a concept that I’ve also delved into in this book. The most prominent afterlife “Valhalla.” There’s a group that resembles the Valkyrie of Norse myth that descends upon a settled battlefield, their duty is to retrieve the souls that lay in wait after the battle has ended.

This opens up the opportunity for humanity to explore war, explore the depths of our own brutality as well as the depths of our own empathy.

This series acknowledges that everyone disserves a space to enjoy their lives. This even extends to those who are typically deemed to not have a place in our society.

This story explores the fragility of Earth, the value of life and the methods to preserve it or even grow it, even against the greatest evil.

I spent a few hours in photoshopping these buildings. I wasn’t putting much thought into it. Eventually it took the shape of this post apocalyptic cityscape. I wasn’t tethered to a purpose, I was just letting the mouse guide me. It’s interesting, the ability to create.

What will you use it for?

Harvest's Eve

The original photo was taken midday a day or two before the harvest of the cornfields. Hungover, My companion and I were having a walk around the experimental farm in Ottawa, Ontario. This farm, as far as I know, is used to research and develop improvements for agriculture in Canada and presumably across the world.

We walked along the edge of the cornfield, trying to get a deep look into what may be on the inside. We made jokes about crop circles or of things lurking just out of our sight or walking in and getting lost inside. We went about our day and enjoyed the nice weather before it got cold.

When I got around to reviewing the photos, My companion and I were having a sweet night together. Me messing around on Photoshop and her playing her cat soup game on her Nintendo Switch. We listened to music and I danced around like a fool. I found the original image looking through my files. It was straight up just a picture of corn. I have been taking a few classes at SPAO (School of Photographic Arts: Ottawa), and have been learning more about art in general. I had raved to my companion about my favorite artists, some of whom are Maxfield Parrish the famous painter who I had discovered once going to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, USA. I am also a fan of Hayao Miyazaki, famous director of the majority of Studio Ghibli’s Animated movies such as, Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle and My Neighbor Totoro. I kept those two artists especially in mind when making this piece.

I noted Maxfield Parrish’s spectacular attention to light and color. I was looking at his piece, “A Venetian Night's Entertainment.” The glow… The glow on that. Absolutely Fantastic. I then took inspiration from my previous conversation with my companion, thinking about what we might find lurking inside the if we had followed the corn deep into the field. In the Ghibli movie Princess Mononoke there were little creatures that appeared in the forests. Very small probably only a few inches tall. I’d connected that conversation to that and decided if there were anything living inside the field, they would need a path to get to wherever they needed to go. And of course they would need something to light their path. Like street lamps in a park at nighttime. I already wanted to do work like Maxfield Parrish, so... Why don’t I try that? I grabbed some snacks, kissed my companion and worked away. I imagined being alongside tiny creatures with the glowing corn lamps looming above me There was a certain set of songs that I listened to during this session. Over the summer I had discovered a whole slew of music that I loved. for this set of songs I wanted to remember those warm summer nights out on the town and the carefree feeling they gave me.

A few for you, Paraiso by Haruomi Hosono, Seaside Weekend by Antena, 扉の冬 by Minako Yoshida, Ono mambo haiku by Domenique Dumont and 5 a.m. by The Millennium

So I danced and flirted this artwork out with my companion by my side, for the rest of the night. Smiles and thoughts of walking through this corn lit path.

Later on..

I showed this artwork to a few other artists to see what others thought about it. Bev Thibault, Emma Rath and Ellen Treciokas. I am very new to the art world. I don’t really understand how everything works in galleries among other things. One note that stood out to me the most was “Art has to have a meaning.” I have always held a restrained stance to that. I believe that the making of the art was the meaningful part. I have always paid attention more to what is happening in an artist’s life then what it means to someone else. A very closed off stance I do realize but art is personal.

But I did consider their notes. Got me up thinkin’ about corn.

My companion has Celiac Disease. An autoimmune disorder affecting the small intestine when eating gluten. It prevents the absorption of nutrients from certain foods. For her It causes cramps, bloating, and affects mood. For others it may have different reactions. If gone untreated it can affect bone density, making your bones weaker due to lack of nutrients. Some of this I learned from her, other things were from google I will be honest.  

Gluten free diets are becoming more common, when my companion and I make dinner many of the food products used are corn based because they do not have gluten. It’s difficult. Especially in our western culture, the majority of our foods are Gluten based, Pasta, Wheat based snacks, a lot of processed foods and BREAD! bread is the base sustinence for most of human culture if i’m correct in that assessment.

So my companion and I talked about celiac disease a bit and I remembered when I originally pointed us towards the corn field I thought it was a wheat field. She was not too excited to be walking towards her arch enemy. I was not even thinking about it, sorry my dear..

As we got closer to it I realized two things. 1, I don’t have the slightest clue what a corn crop looks like and would be completely useless in any sort of agricultural emergency. And 2, corn is very important to people who have celiac disease, It’s something I had never considered. and that is important to know. Before I knew this sort of poked fun at gluten allergies, not knowing that they were an actual real problem and not some form of “Fat Phobia” which is a whole other topic that i’d rather not get into. I was wrong to assume it was that. Because I have seen what Celiac Disease can do. An exposure to gluten can have very bad after effect.

So to relate back to the artwork, following the glowing corn into an experimental farm could lead people with celiac and other gluten intolerances to an easier future for them if agricultural scientists use their resources and research into that. Maybe through genetic engineering or a change in pesticides or preservation or even finding a cure to celiac disease. Who knows? Guess we have to follow the path.

Below are me and my companion in the field