head/space

I have a long and complicated relationship with mental health. Unlike most of my other work, these projects are loosely connected through the thread of my depression, anxiety, and ADHD. These are often stream-of-conscious, cathartic, or otherwise dopamine-fueled objects, performances, and engagements.

side-effects may vary

What is the material of my mental illness? How can I describe it aesthetically?

impossible press

Sometimes, I sign up for art markets under the name “impossible press”, an on-again-off-again small publishing press identity I use. I never price my work, forcing the buyer to name their own price and tell me how much they value my objects and labor. The process of selling my work has always made me uncomfortable — in this exchange I make the consumer equally as uncomfortable in the transaction. My zine practice acts as a diary of sorts, collating the images, texts, and thoughts that orbit my periphery.

CONVERSION THERAPY

Originally a site-responsive installation, this project utilizes socially engaged collaborations with participants to foster conversations about shame and identity. Research into reparative therapies informs aesthetic and formal considerations.

ritual to cleanse your fears after multiple years of overall bad vibes

A three-stage project incorporating hand made ceramic pots and paper making with social engagement, originally produced at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Pots were created by students, faculty, and staff in walk-up workshops across campus. They were used in a second event to create a large-scale sheet of paper as an act of communal solidarity while expressing fears and anxieties. The third and final stage was distributing the pots alongside seed embedded paper. A hope or dream would be written onto the paper, then planted in soil into the pots and taken with the participant, growing something new.

requiem for a magpie

Solo exhibition/performance, The Arts Industry, West Hartford, CT, 2022. Before a major cross-country move, I set up a salon-style installation for Magpie Industries LLC. I offered everything as pay-what-you-want, never saying no to an offer. The performance was a bait-and-switch. I gave viewers the opportunity to submit a “TPS Report”, which would result in a poem or drawing. Partway through, an alarm sounded, instructing me to take work off the designated time labeled wall and destroy whatever wasn’t sold yet. This continued throughout the night until everything was either destroyed or sold.