I grew up in a practical family with a
practical state of mind. I was raised by my father who chose his
girlfriends based on who could watch his kids while he commuted to
his practical, labor-intensive, middle class, union job. We went to
the local public schools, ate fast and cheap food for every meal
(leftover pizza for breakfast was common – it was quicker to nuke a
slice on a paper plate than dirty a bunch of bowls and spoons), and
were involved in the extracurriculars with the least commitment that
occurred during normal school times. My father drilled the value of
hard, honest work into our heads and, while I was on the honor roll
frequently in grade school, often said “you may have book smarts,
but your brother has street smarts – he'll make a good living.”
Of course, my brother became fourth generation union plumber
immediately after high school while I chose college to figure out my
path in life.
While I never fell into a trade and
won't make the money that my brother, father, grandfather, and
great-grandfather all made and continue to make doing “honest
work,” I did start to carve my way into a path I thought I'd never
relate to – the visual arts. The majority of my work is 2D,
digital-based art that directly relates to tangible subjects – the
political sphere, live models, landscapes – coming together as
advertising oriented verses large, metaphorical statements about
life. Internet culture serves as a reoccurring theme in my work, an
homage to what gave way to my birth as an artist during my chaotic
years as a middle schooler trying to be funny on the internet.
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