artist portfolio

Artist Statement

Matter cannot be created or destroyed; the total amount of matter in the universe is constant and originates from the mysterious Big Bang. Matter is equivalent to energy, and energy can transform into different types of elements, environments, and life forms. Additionally, matter contains information that dictates how it interacts with itself and other matter, shaping the universe’s structure and evolution from the atomic to the molecular level. Since all matter is interconnected and continuously reshapes itself through the exchange of information, everything is in constant interaction while bearing the traces of its interactions with others.

This principle, while scientific, also applies to humans. There is no such thing as a singular individual; instead, every life form is a collective entity. Every experience, conversation, touch, sound, and taste impacts us all. When we come into contact with new energies, they restructure the matter within us, altering the information contained in that matter and influencing how we will evolve in the future. This future encompasses nonhuman agents as well, where humans recognize technology’s influence while also relearning holistic approaches that include the presence of trees, bodies of water, the sun, and the stars in our skies. This philosophy creates the Collective I.

In my artwork, you will see portraits of individuals who have contributed to my Collective I. Some are family members and close friends, while others are people with whom I have little or no relationship. Regardless of the connection, I feel the information exchanged within me. Each person has influenced who I am in one way or another. While I am shaped by my specific culture, society, and history, I am also continually redefined by my interactions with both human and nonhuman agents, which are represented through the mediums and methods applied to each artwork. These interactions carry information about how I relate to myself and to others. I am the result of a cosmological Collective I—a single individual who continuously shares experiences and bears the traces of each interaction, whether consciously or at a molecular level.

Although I exist as a single life form, even after my death or the eventual mass extinction of this galaxy in 4.5 billion years due to its solar demise, the information within my matter—my Collective I—will be repurposed into future cosmic wonders. My artwork celebrates the plurality of humans and the continual exchange of information among human and nonhuman agents. In navigating the molecular, humans can adopt cosmological frameworks that go beyond traditional constructs, such as Grand Narratives that position humanity as the pinnacle of achievement. When reevaluating one’s existence through a Collective I, societal norms dissolve, and a gentler existence emerges— even potentially lifting the veil of oppression to experience a sense of emancipation.