BIO

Born in Wisconsin I have moved around my fair share. About every two years I seem to like to move. I think it's because I get restless and bored with feeling comfortable. I feel friendships are necessary but am completely humble with people moving in and out of my life. I have met many people along my journey to my professional courier. I think that's why I felt it necessary to begin blogging. As I graduate this giant chapter in my life of education, I think its appropriate to figure out not only where I've been but where I plan to go in the future, and recognize who's got me there along the way. So hence how my blog came to be.

'Self Expression' has always come easily to me. Art started as a major part of my life somewhere in middle school in Wauseon, OH, striving to shelter the strain on my left brain my parents tell me, and the toils of being the awkward kid in the middle of social high life. I've always been a good student and is why becoming an artist was a difficult path. Many felt in the beginning that it was a waste of my mental capacity. I actually started out in Medicine at The University of Toledo in 2006 with the hopes to be an ophthalmologist and study how eyes worked, and fix them so people could see the vibrancy there was in life. In 2007 I finally began my studies in art professionally at The University of Toledo under valuable mentors like Diana Attie, and Deborah Orloff. A quick learner, I quickly came to adore any art that challenged both my analytical side and creative side of my mind. I began my artistic career with high aspirations in Medical and Anatomical Illustration but found my passion as soon as I experienced photography. I suppose in a way I was doing what an ophthalmologist does only with less education and less sharp objects. The change in interest propelled me to further my education at the Columbus College of Art and Design. There I met some of my most influential mentors like Duncan Snyder, Stephen Webster, and Stephanie Mathews. Now, after being there for two years, I will be graduating with a BFA in Photography at the age of 21.

My work has been an evolution from fine art to commercial. Identity and self worth has always played a big part in my work. Observing the struggle with identity and self worth of the women around me, as well as personal experience, has made me realize the effects of the images we make as a society. I believe in life and creating images that are not commercially consumable, but love the fantasy of the industry. I am big on the technical side of photography but try to not let myself get to bogged down by structure and knowledge that I loose sight of what it means to be ingenuitive. That doesn't mean I'm the whimsical type though either. I'm a person that works in spurts: obsessively learning and troubleshooting, then resting to reflect and polish, and then obsessively learning and troubleshooting again. I think it allows me to master in pieces what is important in photography to me: Lighting, mood, narrative, and the invitation to dwell inside. I am a student that is a work in progress. I am no where near done growing and although I cannot possibly picture where I will end up with my skill level and style 5/10 years from now I know I will still be making photographs in 5/10 years. Why: Because I'm incessantly curious and incredibly reluctant to succumb to the final death that is fear.

Is my life, My life is my work, My work is me.