Bio If education is important to you, the reader of this bio, I have an MFA from UIC with a focus area of photo, film, and electronic media. Previous to becoming a full-time visual artist I’ve had various creative jobs including being a record producer and composing for film and TV. As a visual artist, I enjoy the physicality of using diverse materials and techniques by combining my photography with graphic arts, stenciling and sculptural elements. Despite being dyslexic, I have always had this bewildering habit of using chunks of text in my work. Oh, and I was raised in a cult and have come very, very close to death several times. Ya know, pretty standard stuff.My work has been shown in museums in Europe, Asia, and North America, I’m in collections internationally, and have representation in New York, Vermont, and Illinois. Artist Statement My goal is to produce compulsively "lookable" paintings that make you say "shit, I've felt like that" and sometimes it might be an uncomfortable conversation. While I love pop art's color and rendering styles, I am more interested in the "new sincerity" moniker which rejects celebrity and brand as identity. ProcessThose new to my paintings might be shocked to hear that they are mostly built up from spraying automotive paints with mega-detailed cut one-time use stencils. You’ll also see paint mixed with silica, 24k gold and copper leaf, broken glass, cut and layered strips of transparent vinyl, brushed enamel, carved wood, stacks of resin, and of course you’ll see my obvious love affair with hot rod paints with oodles of metal flakes and candies. My integral first step is taking photos of real people in my studio. The photos are then used as source to build the paintings; however, there’s no print of the photo within the artwork itself. While I do have that MFA, the elaborate techniques I use in my paintings are my sole invention. It’s a unique style that I’ve built up with heart through the years.