Current Artist Statement:
As an artist drawing from an array of personal and collective experiences, my practice finds catharsis in repetitive gestures of love. Growing up queer in the rural south I never felt I had the ability to use my words to communicate effectively and my hands took the role of speaking. With a stepdad who is a general contractor and a mother who is a hairdresser, I’m interested in the ability to carve out a new sphere where the mutual action of keeping our hands busy persists. In this way, every piece is a conversation between the materials and dynamics that shaped me, such as drywall, lumber, and wax, or considering something’s relative scale and the industry standards we inherit.
The ambiguity that comes from interpreting personal content through these materials allows a viewer to experience my work akin to reading a piece of fiction, but the gravity of drawing from personal experience also means forced encounters or instances of reconciliation. I want the pieces to draw upon the many complexities of relationships and view the act of making and putting together objects itself as an active (versus a passive) pursuit of love.
CV
EDUCATION
2021 BFA in Painting, Maryland Institute College of Art
2025 MFA (candidate), Texas Christian University
EXHIBITIONS
2024 MFA Candidacy Exhibition, Fort Worth Contemporary, Fort Worth, TX
2023 CCAN, Center for Contemporary Arts, Abilene, TX
2023 Artspcae 111, 10th Annual Texas Juried Exhibition, Fort Worth TX
2023 150 years / 150 Artists, The Fort Worth Contemporary, Fort Worth, TX
2023 Annual Group Show, Craighead Green, Dallas, TX
2023 Significant Otherness, Center for Contemporary Arts, Abilene, TX
2023 Hue, Center for Contemporary Arts, Abilene, TX
2023 Dallas Art Fair Volume 13 Bill Arning Exhibitions, Dallas, TX
2023 Figur-ish Bill Arning Exhibitions, Houston, TX
2022 CCAN, Center for Contemporary Arts, Abilene, TX
2022Avowal, Browder Street, Dallas, TX
2022 Annual Group Show, Craighead Green, Dallas, TX
2021 CCAN, Center for Contemporary Arts, Abilene, TX
2021 Turner House Rising Star Exhibition (Nominated by Craighead Green Gallery), OCSOFA Turner House, Dallas, TX
2021 New Texas Talent, Craighead Green, Dallas Texas
2021 Ephemera(lity), Ro2 Art Gallery, Dallas, TX
2021 MICA Commencement Exhibition, Baltimore, MD
2020 '2020', Ro2 Art Gallery, Dallas, TX
2020 WE ARE EVERYWHERE, Fox 2 Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2019 MICA Annual Juried Exhibition, Baltimore, MD
2019 MICA First Year Experience Exhibition, Sheila Riggs Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2019 Personal Directions, Main Building, Baltimore, MD2019 YoungArts Miami
2019 Exhibition, Young Arts Gallery, Miami, FL2018
2018 The Devotional, Blue House Too, Plano, TX
2018 New Texas Talent XXV, Craighead Green, Dallas, TX
2017 Art.Write.Now.2017 National Exhibition, Pratt Institute’s Pratt Manhattan Gallery, New York, NY
Press
2023 New American Paintings MFA Annual (#165)
2021 Friend of The Artist Volume 13,
2021 Ephemerality Catalog, Ro2Art Gallery
WORK EXPERIENCE
2023-Present Research Assistant, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX
2022-23 Gallery Technician, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX
2022 Instructor, Contemporary Center for the Arts, Abilene, TX
2021 Gallery Assistant, Cluley Projects, Dallas, TX
2020 Gallery Assistant, Ro2 Art, Dallas, Tx
2020-21 Program Director (Marketing and Membership), Maryland Institute: College of Art, Baltimore, Md
2019-2020 Program Manager (Culture & Community) Maryland Institute: College of Art, Baltimore, Md
AWARDS + HONORS
2021 Turner House Prize
2021 (BFA) Summa Cum Laude
2019 YoungArts Finalist Award
2018 Creative Visions Scholarship
2018 Fanny B. Thalheimer Scholarship
2018 Fred and Jonna Lazarus Scholarship
Other Resources