I combine elements of paint, found objects, as well as construction materials to create a cohesive assemblage of work. There is an emphasis of the textures of these salvaged mediums that illustrate a story of its own life, and recontextualizing that under the veil of art I draft a narrative that ties our past to our present. The objects are meant to be engaged with in a way where certain placements or vantage points affect how the narrative of the work can be read. Each new perspective of the piece itself offers another piece of the narrative that may have otherwise been obscured, or maybe made the main thread of the narrative less apparent. The salvaged material is a condensed view of my regional surroundings and influenced by my Midwest/Appalachian heritage. There is a stark contrast between beauty and suffering that manage to coexist in these places, where in these dark old worn-down places you can un- earth a great deal of beauty and simplicity. Being able to see something so full and wonderful in a place that from the outside can be perceived as destitute and dangerous. Not saying that there isn’t an increased risk of safety in these spaces, but the danger is imbedded in a cultural allocation of money and resources.

The things themselves as they exist as aged artifacts of our communities have the same level of importance. To use an object to the point of it being beyond usable for it's duty. Something that represents living a full life is amazing. When I utilize it for a piece of art, it turns into a sort of “junk heaven.” Just like all people, there are many different avenues a material can exist in, some may have their life cut short, by means of updating, natural disaster, etc. We are the gods of their universe, molding and shaping these objects to suit our needs. Does the tree want to be a house? No, but we make it that anyways. We break, destroy, combine, and repur- pose. But then when these objects no longer serve us, they are cast out. I believe in predetermined fate, and lack of free will. Like the objects that I salvage, and their masters before them, they are bound to a fate that’s beyond their control. I believe that even in our own lives, there are these greater forces, some more tangible than others, that make decisions for us. There are certain things you can try to “resist,” but ultimately the resisting is just a consequential reaction to the unstoppable force.