b1976, Boston, MA. I spent my childhood drawing. Drawing was a safe place, and often an escape. As part of my own personal childhood survival strategy, I developed a sense of empathy. In order to predict and largely avoid the moods of the people at home and school, I had to learn to see under the surface. I went to Harvard and studied Computer Science because art didn’t seem like a viable career option. When I moved to San Francisco, I quickly moved into more creative aspects of tech, and eventually found myself taking at classes at my local art college, Academy of Art University. It’s ironic, in a way, because I couldn’t see that under my own surface was a deep desire to create, and communicate through creative work. I did eventually drop out of the corporate world, earned a degree in Illustration from The Academy of Art University, and spent over a decade working in a variety of creative roles in the commercial game/art world. I was a creative director at a t-shirt startup, a staff artist at Electronic Arts, an art director for a video game merchandise company, a freelance illustrator for board and card games, and I launched a number of successful personal projects in partnership with my friends and communities (the kind of crowdfunders where we paid our artists). In 2016, I discovered ArtResin. I was shopping for a way to finish a drawing I had done for a small group show in California. My local art store had literally one sample size of a 2 part epoxy resin. I brought it home and tested it out on some coasters. I immediately noticed the dimensional nature and wondered if I could work on top of that. From those first, thin layers, I’ve now cast hundreds of layers on dozens of panels, and have had the pleasure of sending these pieces to homes all over. Two and a half years later, I’m still discovering new ways to work with ArtResin (which is archival and non-yellowing unlike many others). What gives me the most pleasure, is this opportunity to explore the layers of human nature, the unseen aspects that people hide but are visible right on the surface, if you’re looking closely enough.