The reasons I create art are mainly for my own self-expression, affirmation, and confrontation. I also make art for all the people who have supported me in doing what I want with my life thus far. Much of my inspiration comes from plants, weather, and people (and of course the mysterious and fickle nature of human emotions, which I try my damnedest to capture in whatever way I can in all the art I create).

I think that the main strength possessed by art is the capability of relating our unique insights to other people and creating an anonymous connection between viewer and creator based on our shared experience of having lived. While also capturing so much more for me, this specific piece is my stab at reflecting a moment in someone’s life: when their contemplative outlook in the present broadens to better encompass everything that has happened in the past, as well as everything that they imagine might happen in the future. In a general sense, this piece tries to balance both a feeling of confidence for what lies ahead, but also the increasing awareness of what might have been lost in pursuit of certain goals.

I’m nine in this painting, sitting on the front steps of my house in the sticks in Carmel Valley with my new dog. When I was nine, I hadn’t given a serious thought to the rest of my life; my entire existence revolved around the little day-to-day things that made up my world. Since then, everything has changed. Now an impending collision with adulthood is weighing on my mind more than I’d like. It’s difficult not to gain a more existential consciousness as you start to take more responsibility for yourself, make mistakes that are suddenly a part of you and experience the world more diversely. Though it was so easy when I was a little kid, living in the present gets more and more complicated. The garden in this painting has recently been razed, which further implements this image as a fleeting moment in time and elucidates the transient nature of our surroundings and way of life when we are growing up, going through the cycles of change that define who we are.