What’s the story behind this piece?

As with so many of my works, the story is really about spontaneity and living in the moment. I honestly have no idea where I’m going until I get there. I sort of let the scraps reveal the message and overall meaning. I often think of my approach as a “paper collage seance” where I’m channeling a mood, a feeling, or some other outside inspiration like music. In many ways, my work is a document of sorts of this process, but I also believe they move deeper into places that are hard to explain. I feel this piece explores a space where beauty and brutality are perhaps the same thing. Or at the very least, intertwined in a fragile and unstable movement that evolves over time. It’s hard to say, really. I prefer my work to be slightly undefined. 

What do you especially like about this piece?

I know a piece is finished when a sense of calm settles over me. This work, in particular, was a chaotic struggle to produce, but the final result feels truly ethereal. I believe that process is very evident here. There’s also something dynamic and strangely natural about the way all the disparate elements come together. Honestly, if a work is difficult to describe yet still provokes a feeling, it’s probably a success. This piece definitely falls into that category.