STATEMENT

My work as an artist starts with recognizing the fallacies of a pure capitalistic society. The globalist economy has had a direct impact in contributing to the rise of climate change. Our world gets hotter every year, our oceans are filled with garbage and the global extinction of species we share this planet with is on the rise. Our world is dying, because of the lack of accountability embedded within our social structures. Humanity is at a tipping point, as our eyes focus on the struggle between nature and civilization. It is only in the face of hardship and adversity that we grow to make the necessary changes for our evolution.

Life is art and art is life. John Cage’s “4 mins and 33 seconds” proved that wholeheartedly. Thus the items we consume everyday are a part of us. They mirror of our everyday actions and sensibilities. They are tools, toys, and items needed for our evolution and survival. But with each purchase comes a price, not only in currency but in the health of our planet. We are not just inhabitants of this plane but also its stewards. The Earth is not a product, we cannot but another.

I started a social practice mission in 2017, called Project Upcycle, with the goal of minimizing my carbon footprint as a practicing artist. Having a painter’s background, I naturally started with the upcycling of industrial paint. It is estimated that 69 million gallons of paint are dumped into landfills each year. I began collecting this precious resource through regular visits to local Paint care locations. I also initiated an engagement both locally and regionally through social networks and online ads; to find other items useful to upcycle. Furthermore, I collect personal items at the end of their lifecycle to add within my work. Thus the items embedded within my work are a reflection of my personal consumption choices and society’s actions as whole. The items and materials are reborn through the process of collection and upcycling.

I am a black hole, hoarding materials and recycling them into its singularity. My works are this singularity. A localized mass so dense and full of material your eyes cannot escape its grasp. These practices of collecting products for integration follow a lineage of Dada assemblages, Marcel Duchamp’s ready-mades, and Robert Rauschenberg’s combine paintings. I reject the notion of Minimalism as an aesthetic, in favor of Maximalism. Maximalism is an aesthetic of excess, redundancy and endless patterns. The philosophy can be summarized as “more is more," in opposition to the minimalist motto "less is more." My works are purposely busy, embrace speed and are often messy. They are an echo of the ugliness embedded within capitalist throwaway cultures. They are your TV dinners, your water bottles, and your Amazon package leftovers. A reminder of the garbage each of us discharge into the world every day.

My work situates itself around the post-modern solution of combining high and low materials. I do not judge materials for their face value, but instead their potential as a formal solution to a problem. Yarn can be just as valuable as paint to create form. I let go of the illusion of sight for the illusion of form. Form can be painted, but it can also be sculpted through a mixture of materials. It is both sculptural and painterly; illusionistic and reality. The invisible line drawn by the renaissance to separate the genius from the collective no longer exists. All human forms of expression are valid and the challenge of combining inputs from various disciplines can only add to the conversation of humanity.

This new set of works called Algorithms, flourished into abstract paintings rooted in materials, ritual and formalist technique. This process is alchemical, conceptual, and based on a recipe of actions. I have three jobs to complete in the process of creating. I am the programmer, as I write a specific algorithm to create my work. Like Sol LeWitts wall drawings, I formulate the actions before the act of creation. These conceptual rules help provide me the foundational structure to create. I am also the artificial intelligence acting out the actions written by the programmer. This autonomous process becomes specific over weeks of creation. Lastly, I am the observer and judge of the effect of these two actors. The observer makes the final decision if the actions were deemed worthy of creation. If they are not deemed worthy, the work is sent back to the programmer for a new set of actions. This cycle of processes continues indefinitely until the observer makes the final decision to stop painting. To put it simply, I do not just paint pictures, I cook visual stimuli and observe the outcome.

I’m interested in occupying a space where science and art can coalesce formally. My current interdisciplinary research weaves together theories of physics, mathematics, and philosophy, to form a cohesive patterned based quilt, which I can utilize as a muse for the future. My thesis “The Excavation of Artistic Process; Mining for knowledge, technique and materials to create form,” was written to suggest that the universe is simulation. Along with a full audit of my art practice, while attending the University of Washington.

My studio is synonymous with a scientist’s laboratory, built for experiments in actions and materials. Two oppositional forces create balance within this plane of existence, they are chaos and order; and each has its hand to play. The butterfly effect states that a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can cause a tornado in Texas. When I create each action sequentially has an effect to how the next action is performed. Each action within the recipe is experimental in nature, exploiting chance. For example, I often use gravitational drips to create grid like structures. As the paint drips, I can turn the painting to guide where it flows, but I can never fully control the outcome.

In the future, I want to continue my work creating conceptual based autonomous art, through carefully made recipes. My work with the Algorithm series is the beginning of this project. I plan to create artificial programs that can create works with minimal human touch. This would require programs that can perform the aspects of the artificial intelligence and observer digitally. I also want to continue and expand on the idea of Project Upcycle. I’d like to open my own recycling centers to fulfill the mission of Project Upcycle on a larger scale. It would be amazing to see a social practice like this implemented on campus with free paint and supplies for an art department’s community.