The Influent Project
Solo Art Exhibition {2024}The Influent Project is a series of eight paintings displaying influences that have largely impacted my creative journey. Components like subject matter, colors, style of illustration, and jagged shapes are all things that are pulling from influences over the course of my life. The jagged shapes are inspired from comic books. The illustration style was inspired by the technique of woodcut printmaking. The simple colors are meant to represent humble beginnings; only starting with the basic primary and secondary colors. When it comes to the subject matter of each painting, the representation varies. Some paintings are a more direct representation of influence. For example, the cowgirl represents my wife, Annie, and Loyal Abe represents our beloved Great Dane who passed away while making this show. Some of the subject matter is recreated works of art, like Starry Night and The Great Wave of Kanagawa. These represent my adoration towards the artists who made them.
As I worked on the eight paintings that make up this series, it widened my awareness of how many things contributed to my development as a creative person. This show could have included a thousand more paintings. The list of things that influence us daily is astonishing, really: relationships, jobs, education, spirituality; the list could go on and on. As you view this series of work, I encourage you to reflect on the influences that contributed to your own development as a person. Whether or not you consider yourself an artist, how we express ourselves in front of our family, friends, coworkers, or in public settings is a craft in itself. What eight influences would hang on your wall?
Each painting was produced with black gesso and acrylic paint on custom-made canvas. Every step of the process from building canvas frames, stretching canvas, priming, and painting allowed me to look at my creative process from beginning to end and have full control over how things were presented.
The Corn Crib
Tiny home construction {2020 — 2022}What started out as a joke at a family dinner would later become a reality when we found ourselves in the middle of a pandemic with nowhere to go and some extra time on our hands.
On July 4th, 2020, we decided to start cleaning up an old corn crib on the farm and kick off a long process of making it another residence on the place. The project would take two and half years from demolition to move-in day and was something we couldn’t have ever completed without keeping our noses to the grindstone.
This ‘not-so-little’ tiny home is about 820 sq/ft and is a 2 bed/1.5 bath home. Throughout all the rotten grain, mice, sweat, and swear words, this project created many memories and was worth every sliver.
Keep Series
Solo Art Exhibition {2021}The Keep Series is comprised of 54 letterpressed posters of two-word phrases. These posters have one objective: provide people with hope and motivation. I started developing this body of work in early 2020 when the covid-19 pandemic started to greatly affect the United States. Like so many people during this time, I ended up losing my full-time job and days started to look grim. When facing a roller coaster of thoughts and emotions surrounding the state of the world, I often returned to the phrase, “keep making.” Keep making has become a personal mantra that reminds me of what gives me happiness; the act of making, creating. I thought back to my childhood when spare time involved constructing with cardboard and using spray paint to make something “my own”. Making was the thing that allowed me to put my stress aside in 2020. Recognizing how this benefitted me, I started to wonder if other people had their own “keep phrases.” As I worked on this series the past couple years, some posters were influenced by current events of the moment. Keep Fightin’, was printed to acknowledge the murder of George Floyd, the hurt caused by police brutality, and the devotion to invoke change through peaceful protest. Keep Votin’, was printed during the 2020 Presidential Election to encourage fellow Americans to use their voice and vote.
The format of this series is simple; two-word phrases accompanied by a pointing hand signaling towards a better future. The only elements that change throughout the series are the second word within the phrase and the colors in which the visual elements are printed. The different words and colors demonstrate that even differing compositions provide a cohesive look amongst the entire series. This acknowledges how even if there are two people that favor different posters, they are still connected as the collective whole. Just because we may not follow the same ideologies does not mean there is no human connection between us all.
This series wants individuals to find encouragement but also to acknowledge the connection with neighbors. Take time to find what phrase resonates with you and then take a moment to understand why someone else chose the phrase that they did. Enjoy the moment to pause and focus on yourself and others. Keep findin’, keep bein’, keep goin’, keep becomin’.