Singularities
About:
Singularities is not a series as such, but rather, the category for all work that is not produced as part of a broader series.
In the Name of God [Bismillah]
12" x 12" x 2" | reclaimed wood, plywood shims, epoxy, resin, peasant feathers, Kufic calligraphy | 2018
In the Name of God [Bismillah] belongs to a private collector, and is not available for purchase. Although the artist does not replicate previous work, commissions are an option, and can be discussed via email.
The Insomnia of an Endless Winter
12” x 13” x 2” | mirrors, photography, resin, metal, paper, plexiglass, acrylic, beam clamps | 2021
The Insomnia of an Endless Winter belongs to a private collector, and is not available for purchase. Although the artist does not replicate previous work, commissions are an option, and can be discussed via email.
The Bright Side [For Lola]
7" x 5" x .75" | photography, acrylic, resin, plexiglass, paper, copper, metal | 2020
The Bright Side [For Lola] is not yet publicly listed for purchase. Check back, or send an email to buy directly from the artist.
Look Up [Don't Forget]
6" x 7" x 2" | photography, acrylic, resin, metal, beam clamps, plexiglass, paper | 2020
Look Up [Don't Forget] is a sculptural, photographic piece created as a reminder to see differently, in the broadest possible sense of the phrase. The image that launched this artwork also stimulated an entirely new photographic methodology for me, one involving upside-down photographs—aimed at capturing the brightest of sunlight, the illumination those rays cast on otherwise mundane objects, and transform the very world through which we move. Like most of us, I often forget to “look up”—figuratively and literally—during trying times. In the process, I find myself missing out on passing beauty that revives the soul when in a foul mood, and naturally…tripping over things. I shot this image at a roadside stop during a motorcycle trip to Idlewild, California, a journey that occurred during a time of great personal change and anxiety-laden choices. The vivid blues and reds, shining above me, re-centered my focus and enabled me to transcend the negative inner voice of doubt and embrace instead the open horizon of possibility.
Redemption After
6" x 6" x .25" | hammered copper, photography, resin, acrylic, plexiglass, metal | 2018
Redemption After depicts an abandoned church located in the crowded urban landscape of metropolitan Atlanta. Discovered by accident, the empty building, although long ago left to decay, nonetheless conveys a profoundly moving sense of peace, stillness, and the sacred—even buried behind barbed wire-covered gates and garbage strewn sidewalks. I’ve never been one to turn down an adventure, particularly a compelling photograph is at stake, so I climbed through gates, wire, and warning signs to fully experience the contradictions of this transcendent, beautiful space in all its chaos. From every angle, the cathedral’s windows offer striking views, making a “bad” photograph virtually impossible—each ray of light, each slight shadow, alters the topography and remakes the sacred space anew: an eternally transforming home of spirit. Redemption After takes its name from the angle of this photograph’s perspective: the viewer’s eye peers through corroded iron fence bars at the gleaming church illuminated by sun—offering the soul a sense of release after an incarceration of spirit.
Redemption After belongs to a private collector, and is not available for purchase. Although the artist does not replicate previous work, commissions are an option, and can be discussed via email.
Weightless Geometry
12" x 13" x 3" | photography, collage, resin, metal, acrylic, plexiglass, beam clamps, paper | 2019
Weightless Geometry uses the momentary act of viewing as a meditative experiment. Here, I emphasize the transparency of media forms and extend the momentary experience of viewing fall’s changing colors by supplementing collage techniques to enable sustained consideration of everyday life’s unrealized possibilities—a dazzling kaleidoscope of infinite variations. Weightless Geometry captures the melancholy sensation of time’s passage as autumn turns to winter, playing with transitory lightness, and the heavy gravity of metal, anchoring an experience in place—emphasizing the paradox an experience holds, both in the moment as well as the aftermath of memory. I took the photograph from which this piece’s collage draws (the remains of green leaves against masses of yellow and gold against a gray sky) in a small village located in rural upstate New York, where the changing of seasons disproportionately vivid, all-encompassing, inescapable, and often overwhelming. Where green leaves threaten to fall away, Weightless Geometry instead presents the viewer with an escape in memory: stretching the fading colors of a fall landscape into the kaleidoscopic infinite of what will—inevitably, if eventually—return.
Burning the Midnight Coals
14" x 12" x 2" | photography, acrylic, resin, metal, plexiglass, paper, beam clamps | 2020
Burning the Midnight Coals plays with geometric forms and light, juxtaposing vivid color photography of a static object with transparent media (in this case, acrylic and resin) to magnify and illuminate the moment in question—giving viewers the chance to look again, this time, from new perspectives. As with most of my work, this art piece is unique, challenging, and difficult to classify, constituting both sculpture and mixed media, but—like life itself, simultaneously resisting any attempt at categorization. Burning the Midnight Coals builds on a singular photographic image of coals burning on a stovetop; contradictions and paradoxes abound in the interplay of geometric shapes, color and transparency, representation in macro and abstraction. The original image depicts coals used to light a flavored-tobacco water pipe commonly used in social settings across the Middle East and North Africa (known as hookah or shisha, depending on location). Burning the Midnight Coals takes its name, as well as its sensory and emotional inspiration, from the colorful hyper-focus that often accompanies an experience of late night hours rapidly passing through our fingers as we relax in the company of those we hold dear.
The Angels of 3 A.M.
10” x 11” x 2” | photography, resin, metal, paper, plexiglass, acrylic, beam clamps | 2018
The Angels of 3 A.M. belongs to a private collector, and is not available for purchase. Although the artist does not replicate previous work, commissions are an option, and can be discussed via email.
Safe Harbor
6" x 9" x .25" | photography, collage, resin, wood | 2021
I created Safe Harbor with a collage technique that combines photographs of waves breaking as they crash into one another, depicted from different angles and at different points of intensity, creating an entirely new—and contradictory—image as the composition’s central element. The base photographs, depicting a waterfall in motion, were selected for their individual ability to reflect the unmistakable force of water’s elemental power in constant flow and infinite motion. I juxtaposed these images to create a marble rose carved on a stone tablet, evocative of permanence and hardness, the eternal tension between stasis and evolution. Safe Harbor was inspired by a trip to Niagara Falls during a moment of considerable change in my personal and professional life. At the international border between Canada and the United States, underneath the checkpoint’s sharp, spiky canopy of razor wire, the enormously powerful forces of nature raged just below.
I was struck by the stark contrast between man-made borders forged out of metal and nature’s powerful ability to refuse any attempt at mastery. All humans can do in the face of such overwhelming forces is to prepare for the inevitable, even when control remains well outside our capacity. In this moment, I was reminded that one finds true peace only within the eye of the storm, that the only way out is through, and that “going with the flow” affords a relaxation of needless tension. Even amidst the crashing waves we cannot control, we must recognize the inevitability of change for the gift the storm offers—a safe harbor.
I was struck by the stark contrast between man-made borders forged out of metal and nature’s powerful ability to refuse any attempt at mastery. All humans can do in the face of such overwhelming forces is to prepare for the inevitable, even when control remains well outside our capacity. In this moment, I was reminded that one finds true peace only within the eye of the storm, that the only way out is through, and that “going with the flow” affords a relaxation of needless tension. Even amidst the crashing waves we cannot control, we must recognize the inevitability of change for the gift the storm offers—a safe harbor.
Safe Harbor belongs to a private collector, and is no longer available for purchase. Although the artist does not replicate previous work, commissions are an option, and can be discussed via email.
The City That Burnt Me Into Being
12" x 12". x 1" | mirrors, glass, acrylic, plexiglass, photography, metal, paper, beam clamps | 2019
One of the most intimate and personally meaningful pieces of art I have ever created, The City That Burnt Me Into Being is a commentary on the fragile nature of memory, perpetually haunted by ghosts of the past that color our present—a meditation on the bittersweet experience of melancholic nostalgia for painful transformations of the human soul. Sometimes, a place occupies such an influential role in the trajectory of one’s life that it feels burnt into the skin, an indelible scar of nostalgia etched permanently onto bodily topography. The City That Burnt Me Into Being depicts one such location in my own life, that of the traditional walled city Fez, a former imperial capital of Morocco. The City That Burnt Me Into Being combines original photography with mirror and glass, playing with transparency and reflection in a subtle meditation on the haunting, unreal nature of memory. I first moved to Morocco at the age of 20 and relocated there again shortly after turning 23—choosing to inhabit not the “new” European city but rather, the traditional walled city whose history stretches back to the 8th century CE. This period of life—those unforgettable early 20s—are well known to form a critical period of personal development. Childhood dissipates with finality as the twilight of adolescence sets in, and the crucible of adult selfhood begins to emerge.
Fez would prove a foundational part of the woman I would become, my experiences there full of love and loss, mourning and hope—a visceral immersion in the meaning of “sublime:” at once beautiful and terrifying, unforgettable in the most profoundly unforgettable of ways. I once again returned to Morocco at 29 but could not bring myself to reside in Fez—so overwhelming do my memories remain that I am now only able to visit for brief periods before the past threatens to drown me. The City That Burnt Me Into Being translates the sensations of melancholy nostalgia, depicting the old city’s ancient walls themselves behind the battered metal walls of modernity’s restoration campaigns. Here, vividly colored memories are encased in a frame of cold glass and harsh iron—boundaries constructed to safely quarantine those indelible memories that remain as painfully alive as a fresh bruise in the present. A backdrop of mirrors, juxtaposed against glass and iron, offers viewers no escape from our own image.
The City That Burnt Me Into Being uses the subtlety of media to comment on the fraught nature of our memories, our pasts, and our selves: human memory, after all, is as fragile as glass and glass, as heavy as iron—shaped by reflection and projection and vividly colored by the untrustworthy illusions of emotions as impossible to pin down as light itself. If we could “go back,” The City That Burnt Me Into Being asks, would we even want to? Might the weight of such harsh confrontation shatter us into pieces? And yet—we cannot ever really escape from the places that created us, ghosts of past spaces that continue to color our present.
Fez would prove a foundational part of the woman I would become, my experiences there full of love and loss, mourning and hope—a visceral immersion in the meaning of “sublime:” at once beautiful and terrifying, unforgettable in the most profoundly unforgettable of ways. I once again returned to Morocco at 29 but could not bring myself to reside in Fez—so overwhelming do my memories remain that I am now only able to visit for brief periods before the past threatens to drown me. The City That Burnt Me Into Being translates the sensations of melancholy nostalgia, depicting the old city’s ancient walls themselves behind the battered metal walls of modernity’s restoration campaigns. Here, vividly colored memories are encased in a frame of cold glass and harsh iron—boundaries constructed to safely quarantine those indelible memories that remain as painfully alive as a fresh bruise in the present. A backdrop of mirrors, juxtaposed against glass and iron, offers viewers no escape from our own image.
The City That Burnt Me Into Being uses the subtlety of media to comment on the fraught nature of our memories, our pasts, and our selves: human memory, after all, is as fragile as glass and glass, as heavy as iron—shaped by reflection and projection and vividly colored by the untrustworthy illusions of emotions as impossible to pin down as light itself. If we could “go back,” The City That Burnt Me Into Being asks, would we even want to? Might the weight of such harsh confrontation shatter us into pieces? And yet—we cannot ever really escape from the places that created us, ghosts of past spaces that continue to color our present.
Effigy
6" x" 6" x 2" | photography, metal, plexiglass, resin, acrylic, beam clamps | 2018
Effigy is a sculptural, photographic piece created as a reminder to see differently - in the broadest possible sense of the phrase. This artwork was created through a collage technique building on a singular original photograph of sunlight, shot upside-down through the dense, green canopy of a Georgia forest. To transform my initial image from its static photographic form, I used a collage technique intended to create a fresh view of the natural world when experienced through purposeful dislocation—by turning one’s world upside down, reflecting on the same, singular perspective from a multitude of angles, and shattering the illusion of stillness. Here, the forest becomes more than simply a part of the natural world, but vibrates with a viscerally new sensation: at the center of the piece, an eerie, crude facsimile of the human form seems to float in the sky, an ominous warning—almost as if an Effigy.
You Are Here
6" x 6" x .1" | photography, collage, hammered copper, resin, acrylic, plexiglass, metal | 2019
You Are Here is not yet publicly listed for purchase. Check back, or send an email to buy directly from the artist.
Ripple Effect [Troubled Water]
9 x 11" x 1" | acrylic, photography, resin, reclaimed wood, paper, collage | 2018
Ripple Effect [Troubled Water] is set in central New York, in the village of Hamilton. I lived in Hamilton for three years, working as a professor at Colgate University. Finding the extremely small nature of village life (approximately 2,500 inhabitants call Hamilton home) quite difficult and a culture shock, to say the least, I sought solace in photography and artwork. The university's campus is a gorgeous landscape of natural scenery, ideal for photo opportunities such as this one - shot from a bridge that leads directly up a hill to the school's central buildings and main quadrangle. The bridge in this image separated my home from the main campus, and I passed over it every morning on the way to work. Often, I would pause to contemplate the twists and turns that brought me to this strange, surreal location. I found in the particular angle captured by this photograph a measure of solace and an anchor -- and a space to consider what might lead me back out of the Hamilton woods, both figuratively and literally.
Ripple Effect [Troubled Water] is not yet publicly listed for purchase. Check back, or send an email to buy directly from the artist.
Fictional Borders
12” x 13” x 2” | photography, resin, metal, paper, plexiglass, acrylic, beam clamps | 2018
Fictional Borders belongs to a private collector, and is not available for purchase. Although the artist does not replicate previous work, commissions are an option, and can be discussed via email.
Lowlands in Lavendar
6" x"6 x2" | photography, metal, plexiglass, resin, acrylic, beam clamps | 2018
Lowlands in Lavender s not yet publicly listed for purchase. Check back, or send an email to buy directly from the artist.
Calm in the Storm [Hala's Magnolias]
9" x 13" x 1" | reclaimed wood, resin, acrylic, photography, paper | 2018
Calm in the Storm [Hala's Magnolia's] is not yet publicly listed for purchase. Check back, or send an email to buy directly from the artist.
Submerged
5" x 5" x 1" | salvaged wood, acrylic, resin, photography, paper, epoxy | 2019
Submerged is not yet publicly listed for purchase. Check back, or send an email to buy directly from the artist.
Diagonal Sunspiders
10" x 8" x 1" | found wood, acrylic, photography, resin, tree bark | 2018
Diagonal Sunspiders is not yet publicly listed for purchase. Check back, or send an email to buy directly from the artist.
Trespassing in the Funhouse
9" x 13" x 1" | reclaimed wood, resin, acrylic, photography, paper | 2018
Trespassing in the Funhouse is not yet publicly listed for purchase. Check back, or send an email to buy directly from the artist.
The Lights in the Sky
6" x 6" x 1" | hammered copper, metal, acrylic, photography, paper, resin, collage | 2021
The Lights in the Sky is not yet publicly listed for purchase. Check back, or send an email to buy directly from the artist.
The Only Way Out [Up]
12" x 9.5" x .5" | wood, metal, magnets, acrylic, photography, collage, resin, plexiglass | 2019
The Only Way Out [Up] is not yet publicly listed for purchase. Check back, or send an email to buy directly from the artist.
Constructing a Revival
12” x “12” x 1” | photography, resin, metal, paper, plexiglass, acrylic, copper | 2018
Constructing a Revival belongs to a private collector, and is not available for purchase. Although the artist does not replicate previous work, commissions are an option, and can be discussed via email.
The Floating Ghosts of New Orleans
5" x 5" x 1" | salvaged wood, acrylic, resin, photography, paper, bubble wrap | 2019
The Floating Ghosts of New Orleans is not yet publicly listed for purchase. Check back, or send an email to buy directly from the artist.
A Haunted Forest Rain
12" x 13" x 2" | acrylic, photography, resin, plexiglass, metal, paper, beam clamps, plexiglass | 2022
A Haunted Forest Rain is not yet publicly listed for purchase. Check back, or send an email to buy directly from the artist.
Lost Bird of Paradise
7" x 7" x .25 | reclaimed wood, string, resin, photography, paper | 2021
Lost Bird of Paradise is not yet publicly listed for purchase. Check back, or send an email to buy directly from the artist.
Cycles in Motion [Life]
6" x 12 x 2" | photography, collage, acrylic, resin, metal, beam clamps, plexiglass, paper | 2019
Cycles in Motion [Life] is not yet publicly listed for purchase. Check back, or send an email to buy directly from the artist.
Sunspiders
6" x 7" x 2" | photography, acrylic, resin, metal, beam clamps, plexiglass, paper | 2020
Sunspiders conveys the sensation of staying up all night to watch the sunrise, depicting the gentle emergence of a morning sun’s hazy rays behind a sharply focused, dew-covered spiderweb. Within the composition, contrasting forms and colors converge and retract in a whimsical interplay that simultaneously reveal and obscure in equal measure: the spider’s web, otherwise invisible, strikes the viewer’s eye only through the spherical translucence of freshly fallen dew drops that arc across abstracted green and yellow triangles of leaves and sun. As with most of my work, this art piece is unique, challenging, and difficult to classify, constituting both sculpture and mixed media, but—like life itself, simultaneously resisting any attempt at easy categorization. Sunspiders brings together gold and silver tones with the fresh perspective of morning, a reminder that every new day is a precious gift—if we look at it right.
Sunspiders belongs to a private collector, and is not available for purchase. Although the artist does not replicate previous work, commissions are an option, and can be discussed via email.
Complicity - The Ethics of Photojournalism
12" x 12" x .75" | mirrors, photography, collage, glass, acrylic, iron, metal, plexiglass | 2019
Complicity - The Ethics of Photojournalism belongs to a private collector, and is not available for purchase. Although the artist does not replicate previous work, commissions are an option, and can be discussed via email.
The Blinding Light
6” x 7” x 2” | photography, resin, metal, paper, plexiglass, acrylic, beam clamps | 2018
The Blinding Light belongs to a private collector, and is not available for purchase. Although the artist does not replicate previous work, commissions are an option, and can be discussed via email.
Geometry of a Hidden City
13.5" x 13.5" x 5" | wood, photography, paper, dowel rods, resin, epoxy, acrylic, plexiglass | 2021
iGeometry of a Hidden City is not yet publicly listed for purchase. Check back, or send an email to buy directly from the artist.
Coming Back to Life
,11" x 15" x 5" | wood, photography, paper, metal hinges, resin, epoxy, acrylic, plexiglass | 2018
Coming Back to Life belongs to a private collector, and is not available for purchase. Although the artist does not replicate previous work, commissions are an option, and can be discussed via email.
Seek Knowledge [Cradle to Grave]
8" x 5.5" x .25" | hammered copper, collage, photography, metal, resin, epoxy, acrylic, plexiglass | 2019
Seek Knowledge [Cradle to Grave] belongs to a private collector, and is not available for purchase. Although the artist does not replicate previous work, commissions are an option, and can be discussed via email.
Entanglement
13.5" x 13.5" x 5" | wood, photography, paper, dowel rods, resin, epoxy, acrylic, plexiglass | 2021
Entanglement is not yet publicly listed for purchase. Check back, or send an email to buy directly from the artist.
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