Laguna College of Art + Design

Silicone dolls can serve different purposes in people's lives. They can take on different identities, as a daughter, a sister, a best friend, or as most people expect, a lover. Silicone dolls, although not alive, have emerged as a source of solace f…

I undertake the process of individuation with art making. I paint contemplative images that tell stories of personal discoveries and of the transformation of the self by examining psychological relationships between characters in my work, their envi…

My narrative paintings explore a fantasy realm that I call the flooded world, loosely inspired by my home on the expansive floodplains of East Texas. Using the imagery of high water to capture a moment of disrupted reality, my paintings respond to a…

Discord in the Garden is a body of work that represents my exploration into the permeability of gender by way of transvestism or cross-dressing. The subject of this work was initially inspired by a friend of mine who had the courage to reveal to me …

A Bridge between Worlds is a series of narrative paintings that explore symbolism and allegory. They are executed in a traditional, representational style, synthesizing the classical, naturalist, symbolist, and contemporary genres of painting. The a…

Jonathon Shay, in Achilles in Vietnam, wrote that he is “deeply opposed to war, but just as deeply respectful of the soldier” (Shay1994, 206). This sentiment reflects my exact feelings and motivations for the seven paintings in my thesis…

The people that I have painted in my MFA thesis series have suffered indignities, hardship, and sometimes the loss of their individual freedoms. Due to a variety of circumstances, they found themselves in situations that were dire. Often, their live…

In the film American Psycho, Patrick Bateman stares blankly at his reflection in the mirror as he states, “There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory—I sim…

Unconditional Love of a Gentle Soul focuses on human connections. I draw inspiration from the relationships that I have with people around me, who are both unique and artistic. By choosing to dig deep and highlighting the most vulnerable everyday mo…

This work was included in the Society of Illustrators 63rd Exhibition.

Another cold brisk night in the city. Time to wander around, get lost, and find something else to paint. What am I looking for again? Tim suggested keeping my thesis idea in mind—the city is modern life with all the technology, supplies, servi…

This series of oil paintings is an analysis, a summary, a diary, and a confession. For me, creating art is a process of self-knowledge and excavation. Through art, I refocus on feelings and emotions to create a connection to the world around me. Tim…

What makes a place more than the sum of its physical parts? How can I imbue a painting of that place with the emotions, memories and associations that make it deeply significant in my life? These questions form the foundation of my mixed media lands…

Time seems to slow down when I am at my barn with my senior horse or in the studio painting. It is in these moments that I can recognize the nuances present in both situations and appreciate my engagement with them. When at the barn one of the thing…

Making Mischief is a series of mixed media paintings about deviating from the norm. The creative shift that I went through in making this body of work mirrors my journey as a queer person, rejecting both the confines of traditional realism as well a…