Personal Statement:

For a long time, I didn’t fully understand why I felt compelled to create or what my work meant beyond the need to express these images. I now see my compositions not as a compulsion but as a natural extension of my verbal and physical expression—a tangible way of communicating when words fall short.

My work embraces a naive, folksy style to free the making process from restriction. I begin each composition intuitively, starting with a small detail and letting the image unfold organically, like piecing together a distant memory. Visually, I draw from Norwegian mythology, American folk art, and DIY punk ephemera. My work acts as fragmented symbols that gradually coalesce into a singular image.

I am drawn to artists who develop their own visual languages from personal experience. Susan Te Kahurangi King, a non-verbal artist, is a major influence on my practice—her layered compositions combine pop culture imagery with an enigmatic lexicon of symbols, creating something both familiar and unknowable. My work follows a similar approach: there is always an untranslatable element, and that tension compels me to keep creating.

At Queens College, I am eager to deepen my practice through the Studio Arts program’s Painting concentration. As an illustrator who employs painting techniques and risograph printmaking, I am drawn to working across disciplines, testing how my imagery can evolve in different mediums and scales. The ability to explore ceramics, woodworking, bronze casting, and various printmaking techniques will allow me to push my work beyond its current limitations. The allotment of my own studio space will further help me flesh out my ideas, incorporating sculptural elements and working at a larger scale to create paintings that feel like their own immersive worlds.

Currently, my work lays the groundwork for something more expansive—my current portfolio functions as a blueprint, ready to evolve with the right space and resources. At Queens College, I will finally have the space and facilities to realize these ideas fully. The MFA Painting concentration will provide the opportunity to bridge my illustration and printmaking background with new material explorations, transforming my work from contained compositions into more immersive, multidimensional fine art works.

Alongside my studio practice, teaching has become an integral part of my artistic identity. As a full-time freelance illustrator, risograph studio owner, and educator at Parsons School of Design, I have discovered how teaching profoundly enriches my work. Guiding students through their artistic journeys has not only been deeply rewarding but has also challenged and expanded my creative thinking. This exchange fosters a reciprocal learning environment where my students and I continually inspire one another.

Queens College’s MFA program is essential to my goal of becoming a full-time professor and studio artist. The ability to experiment with multiple disciplines within a tight-knit community of educators will allow me to refine my creative vocabulary while strengthening my approach to teaching. I look forward to being part of an environment that encourages cross-disciplinary exploration, giving me the tools and space to push my work to its fullest potential while developing the skills to guide future artists in their creative pursuits.