The Arborgeist Project

Born and raise in Richmond, VA, I received my BFA in 2004 from Pratt Institute in NY. After a bit of travel, I attended a residency in Hanoi, VN in 2006. I have since been living in Los Angeles with my fiance, Brad, and our ferret. Shikimaru. I am deeply influenced not only by my experiences, my upbringing in Virginia which was steeped in Antique remnants, transcendental revelries and environmental actions that remain a major source of inspiration for me. I dream of returning to my roots.

My paintings are part of a story, a science fiction diary, rich in allegorical symbolism. They are not self portraits, but instead physical manifestation of the lives within me. I am fascinated by the legends and tales that have been passed down through the rise and fall of empires and how they are weathered by oral tradition and cultural change. I work with my own personal mythology to reflect ideas on love, memory, and the inexplicable human talent for anthropomorphizing the cycles of life and all its manifestations.  My constantly evolving process allows me to explore a variety of mediums to express the ideas and further explore the physics and life in my artist universe, I generally prefer to work on wood or Masonite panels and I always aim to closely follow the classical styles of the old masters, but I often begin by slowly building up the surface and back ground with resin, varnish, acrylic paints and collage. The design and composition of the piece is often decided before i start working with the oils in a more direct style.