Artist Statement

Preservation of Life

It can often feel like time is uncontrollably escaping, and those of us with an intense sense of sentimentality can often feel a sort of grief at the passage of time. Art has been my method of coping. Having a tangible and dynamic expression of a person, object, or a memory has been invaluable to me. Meditating on the beauty of life is my favorite way to demonstrate my gratitude for having been given the opportunity to experience so much. I love savoring things through art because it allows me to live in the joy a little longer. In a contradictory fashion to my characteristic sentimentality, I do not keep a lot of the art that I make, but rather I gift it away. For me the time I spend on my art allows me to translate my sadness at the reality of the moment passed, by memorializing it. Afterwards, I love sharing what I have created with others so that they may also elongate the joy I have captured in a new way.

Neuroscience and Art

Disciplinary divisions have characterized the modern academic era. This was not always the case and nor should it be. Artists and scientists are both investigators and communicators and their skills often complement each other wonderfully. As a neuroscience student my love of art never felt unrelated to my studies or research and I never want it to. The anatomical heart has become a raw and distinctive artistic symbol over the years. Our fascination with the heart began because we believed it was the source of the love that we felt. While I too agree that the anatomical heart is beautiful, as a neuroscience student, I am partial to the beauty of the brain, the actual source of the love we feel and express. I find value in actually looking at the brain because, at least for me, it has allowed me to conceptualize it as both the source of my being, and a natural physical organ capable of malfunction at the same time. No different than a flower is its design and uncertainty integrated into the earth we live on.