"The shower, like a church, was a sanctuary for me my first year in the graduate program. It was private, solitary and reflective. It was not always a positively soothing place to be, it was excruciating at times to allow emotions and thoughts to come to the surface.The more time I would dwell, sitting on the tub-floor, the more I let go of my frustrations and felt accepting of my current self. The shower encapsulated the overlying sadness in my desire to feel better.The hot water gently massaged my skin, slowly dissolving the tension from my day. The water was a comfort, much like a calm presence that acknowledged and embraced my doubts and fears. I found myself staring at the white tiles on the wall, admiring their sense of quiet and uniformity. I would draw with the wet hair stuck to them to pass time.Water is a powerful force in large amounts, with the ability to collect debris in its girth. It will flood if it does not have a release. The shower has a drain to prevent this. The water flows off the body into and down the drain. The soap takes the undesirable thought/ emotion off our bodies, like a magnet, and only with the partnership of water, will if effortlessly flow away from us into the subterranean level of our drainpipes.On average, people have about 60,000 thoughts per day, many being negative and repetitive. The emotional tensions that exist in a human being at any given moment are indescribably immense and speak to the anxiety and depression that a person may experience. For me, the shower is a place of spiritual solace, where the day?s thoughts are washed away from my mind and body, collecting in my shower drainpipes. I wonder, ?What do these numerous layers of thoughts and emotions look like in this place? And what form do they take?By using the metaphorical materials of soap and self-help book paper, my work explores the relationship between self and place, while functioning at a crossroad between abstract-expressionist painting, minimalism and sensory experience. Rather than soap being used as a tool to clean oneself, I see the soap I work with as relics that contains an amalgam of past thoughts, feelings and emotions. Each piece acts as a self-portrait that is excavated from the subterranean level of my shower?s drain pipes."EDUCATION:2020 M.F.A., Painting, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA2014 B.F.A., Painting, magna cum laude, State University of New York at Potsdam,Potsdam, NY2014 B.A., Psychology, magna cum laude, State University of New York at Potsdam,Potsdam, NYPROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:2022 Full-time Instructor, Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA (Painting I, Understanding the Visual Arts, Fall/Spring Semester)2021 Adjunct Professor, Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA (Drawing Composition, Spring Semester)2021 Adjunct Professor, Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA (Understanding the Visual Arts, Spring Semester)2020 Adjunct Professor, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (Drawing Composition, Fall Semester)2020 Adjunct Professor, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (Intro to Two-Dimensional Design, Fall Semester)2020 Instructor of Record, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (Introduction To Drawing, Spring Semester)2019 Instructor of Record, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (Two-Dimensional Design, Fall Semester)2019 Neighborhood Arts Project Assistant, Louisiana State University Museum of Art2019 Transcriber of Patrick George notes, Galerie Boisvert, Baton Rouge, LA2019 Instructor of Record, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (Beginning ToFigure Drawing, Spring Semester)2018 Instructor of Record, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (Two-Dimensional Design, Fall Semester)2017 Teaching Assistant, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (FigureDrawing, Spring Semester)2017 Teaching Assistant, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (Abstract Painting, Fall Semester)2014-17 Art Enrichment Teacher, Dr.Weeks Elementary School, Syracuse, NY2014-2015 Crisis Hotline Worker, Contact Community Services, Syracuse, NY2014 Painting Foreman, Collegiate Entrepreneurs, Syracuse, NY2014 Summer Youth Enrichment Specialist, Say Yes to Education, Dr. Weeks Elementary School, Syracuse, NY2011 Teaching Assistant, SUNY Potsdam, Potsdam, NY (Painting II, Fall/ Spring 2014)2010 Studio Art Intern, SUNY Potsdam, Potsdam, NY2010 Psychology Tutor, SUNY Potsdam, Potsdam, NY2010 Art History Tutor, SUNY Potsdam, Potsdam, NYEXHIBITIONS:2022 '59th Annual Juried Exhibition', Juror: Susan Baley, Group Exhibition, Masur Museum, Monroe, LA.2022 'Art in the Time of Corona Vol. 3', Online International Exhibition, Dab Art Co., Los Angeles, CA2022 '37th Annual International Exhibition', Juror: Erin Murphy, Group Exhibition, Meadows Gallery @ University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX.2021 'The Coded Color: Pink', Online Group Exhibition, P.S.Xhibitions2021 'Itty Bitty, Nitty Gritty', Solo Exhibition, Yes We Cannibal, Baton Rouge, LA2021 'A Generous Kingdom V', Group Exhibition, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR2020 'Meanwhile', MFA Thesis Exhibition, Glassel Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA2020 'The Print Show', Dairy Gallery, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA2020 'Body Forth', Self-curated at the Dairy Gallery, Louisiana State University, BatonRouge, LA2019 'Swamp Thang: MFA Student Exhibition', Foster Gallery, LouisianaState University, Baton Rouge, LA2018 'Disclosure: MFA Student Exhibition', Foster Gallery, Louisiana State University,Baton Rouge, LA2017 'PassionFruit: MFA Student Exhibition', Foster Gallery, Louisiana State University,Baton Rouge, LA2016 Group Exhibition, 190 Cinema, GEM Festival, Glens Falls, NY2016 Solo Exhibition, Compositions, The Fulton Street Gallery, Troy, NY2015 Solo Exhibition, Untitled, The Brakes, Albany, NY2014 BFA Exhibition, State University of New York at Potsdam, Potsdam, NY2014 Group Exhibition, Lougheed Festival of the Arts, State University of New York atPotsdam, Potsdam, NY2014 Group Exhibition, to.be, online gallery space, Bronx, NY2013-14 Group Exhibition, Creative Spirits Gallery, Potsdam, NY2013-14 Group Exhibition, SUNY Abstract Show, SUNY Global Center, New York, NY2013 Group Exhibition, Art Attack, Gibson Gallery, State University of New York at Potsdam, Potsdam, NYAWARDS/ RECOGNITIONS:2018 Opportunity Grant, Louisiana State University, Study Abroad Program2016 Artist Residency, Salem Art Works, Salem, NY2014 Psychology Departmental Scholar Award, State University of New York at Potsdam, Potsdam, NY2014 2nd Place Award, Creative Spirits Gallery, Potsdam, NY2012-2014 member of Psi Chi Psychology Honor Society