In my ‘Branchwork’ and ‘Firewood’ series, I apply delicate veneers of found rough wood against expansive, richly-painted skyscapes. The textures of real branches and weathered end-grain invite inspection of detail on a minute scale; naturally occurring details and patterns surpass those achievable by the human hand. The lush gradients, distant stars, and elusive clouds invite consideration of the vast and limitless.
The wood is laid in seemingly random patterns, much as how they would be naturally found; however, upon closer inspection, they define universal patterns. Branches form geometric linework or interact with the ever-present constellations beyond. Asterisms cascade into the crags of a firewood pile, exploring unlikely alignments on small and fugitive scales. My work invites further thoughts about the scalability of serendipity; I ask: what are the larger alignments that happen or nearly happen? What fun it is to stretch our minds to accommodate how miraculous it all is!
I puzzle over the divinity of coincidence. My artistic practice is a belief-based consolidation of humanity’s modern cosmic understanding with our origin story. Life is defined as anything on a deterministic path in and out of existence, be it a person, a crystal, or even a shadow. The overall purpose of my work is to find and consider life in aleatoric patterns.