Personal work

My own art practice is informed by the same values I promote in my classroom: free play balanced by self-imposed limitations and humor. I embrace “yes” and reject “no”, my work is not timid. I confront ideas of the compartmentalization I had to practice as a young gay man. Camp, world building, and pataphor in visual form are other key elements in my practice. By visual pataphor, I mean extending metaphor so fully that it becomes its own image-based logic, where an image or an idea do not simply symbolize something, but builds a world that operates according to its own internal rules. I believe keeping a dedicated art practice is crucial for a successful art educator. The studio can often be a humbling place. I have learned time and again how to bounce back from perceived failure and am able to pass on these lessons or just be a truly empathetic ear when a student feels lost or stuck. The studio is also a source of energy and renewal; without it I would not have the energy to teach. My hope is that through my example, students learn what it looks like to live as an artist outside of school as an adult. In these ways my practice becomes generative and transitive: it is only through my own continuous and consistent learning that I am able to teach.