I was born in rural northern New Jersey and grew up in a small hollow between two mountains covered in tall, lush poplar tree forests. I spent most of my childhood roaming these mountains conducting interviews with caterpillars and forming wonderful elaborate alters to the forest of various fungi, woodland flora and shiny micaceous mineral specimens. When the seven year cicadas emerged from the ground it was quite an event because I was seven years old that year. Little did I know this bizarre natural event would be a precursor to my obsession with life cycles. By the time I was 10 I knew when each variety of plant was going to burst through the soil and extend into its yearly blossom. I found the natural world to be a much more interesting place to be than anywhere else.

The forest has forever been a vast source of my inspiration in every aspect. I try not to limit myself in terms of what is most intriguing. Most often it is something that is in a state of transformation, either coming to bloom or deteriorating back into the earth. I get really excited about making work that exemplifies that moment in time when something is pulsing with life, just about to emerge. It provides a sense of tension and anticipation and leads the viewer to use their own thoughts to predict what is going to happen next. As a result, my goal is to create a feeling of excitement and connection to this Earth we come from.

I am drawn to the waxing and waning, the ebb and flow, the cyclical tendency of nature. From birth to death and the circle that keeps it all flowing. Nature never stops and neither do we. We start out almost magically as one cell dividing in two and we die as our bodies decompose back into the soil to fortify yet another life. There is a common thread between us as humans and the natural world, and I am hopeful that this may be why my work resonates with the viewer. I strive to achieve the moment when a creature is emerging into birth, pulsing with life or crumbling away back into the depths of the Earth. My work may look like an ancient relic or fossil just released from a cave or a seed sprout bursting from the soil, reaching for the sun. Either way a state of transformation is usually evident. I sincerely hope my work can arouse the viewer’s primal connection to the Earth.