Biography

Scottsdale, Arizona. To most people this city conjures up images of luxury, money and the perfect place to retire to a good golf game. I was born here in 1969 and raised here, surrounded not by wealth, but by a strong hardworking family in a blue-collar neighborhood. Many of my images and aesthetic sensibilities stem from the well-manicured suburban lawns in contrast to my father’s constantly growing junkyard of cars in the family’s backyard.

I developed my interest in art from a beginning drawing course I took as a prerequisite to a jewelry-making course during my first year in college. I found that art gave me confidence in my ability to learn and be creative and the self-awareness that I could accomplish anything that I truly desired. Like many other artists, pursuing an art degree was not highly encouraged by friends or family. After pursuing other more potentially marketable educational tracks, I returned to art as my primary focus. When I tried to imagine what I would do for the rest of my life, confident that I had given the world the best I had, it was only as an artist. After receiving my BFA in Jewelry and Metalworking and a BA in Studio Art from Arizona State University, I enrolled in Pratt Institute to obtain an MFA in painting and drawing.

Attending Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York proved to be a valuable asset to me both professionally and personally. The aesthetics of an urban environment lent itself nicely to the imagery of my work. Additionally, the neighborhood in Brooklyn opened my senses to new social and visual environs that contrasted sharply to the Scottsdale suburban neighborhoods in which I was raised. This contrast served to help reinforce my exploration of what is “authentically” socially acceptable or unacceptable.