uic bfa class of 2020

    I first and foremost wanted to share the statement I had originally prepared to propose my work for our BFA thesis show, it meant and still means a lot to me. It was a series to be titled “Every Other Breath”.

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    “My parents are both home bodies, as am I; the type of people who find far more comfort and pleasure in our dwelling than a night out on the town. My parents did however love to travel, and frequently took my siblings and I along. This instilled a sense of curiosity, wonder, and the regular practice of searching and examining in me. It was the simple day to day things I learned to find joy or beauty in that really called my attention. In order to satiate my constant thirst for substance in a regular setting, I made it wherever I could. Whether it was finding compositions in the cracks of the stone and tile in the bathroom, making stories for them, seeing if I was able to find the same interpretation twice, or the way light shines through the stained glass in the local church I grew up attending on Sundays.

    In my work I enjoy playing with the idea of normalcy/domesticity and what that means, or what I want it to mean. I embrace the eclectic fascinations of my adhd riddled mind, always searching for some type of simple, every day sort of pleasure, or peculiarity.

    Breathing is an essential, daily function, we often take it for granted or overlook. My most recent work surrounds an organism integral to our continued existence, the diatom, which provides about half of the oxygen we breathe. They crucially affect our lives, and are largely unheard of by the general public. I intend to make these phytoplankton a normal topic of conversation and elevate them beyond an obscure page in a Biology textbook. In my thesis exhibition I intend to make my own interpretations of these life-giving microscopic beings out of stained glass, magnifying their luminescent wonder, while elevating them and their importance to the level which is given to religion. Diatoms and their continued production are closely tied to the Amazon Rainforest, which received astoundingly little intervention, aid, or real concern for its continued sustainability. Some of the most famous stained glass in the world makes its home in the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris. When this church tragically set fire, nearly one billion dollars was hurriedly pledged to rebuild the landmark. In this work I critique our societal priorities, what we deem to be of value, and what we choose to worship.”