Are you considering yourself a photographer or a multidisciplinary artist?

Although my base medium is photography, I consider myself multidisciplinary, for sure. There were a couple years I solely photographed, but honestly was finding myself left unsatisfied and itching for more creatively. When I moved to London from New York to attend the Royal College of Art for my Masters, I was not only surrounded by such a creative and inspirational bunch, but I was consumed by a breadth of mediums that were encouraged for students to explore. It was that experience where I realized how much I love transforming the 2D image into something 3-dimensional. I presently express ideas​ through photography, video/sound, installation, and sculptural interpretation.

What’s most important in your research?

As for research, it is hard to say what is most important because it is always changing depending on time, place, and mindset. What is most important for my practice and creative process is keeping an open mind–I know that may sound cliche, but it is easier said than done. I have grown very comfortable with telling myself and others I have no idea what I am creating or where it is going, even if I have started a piece; It is only in not knowing that we can be fully open to something we have never crossed paths with before. Rarely do I have a fully constructed idea when I start a work. Often I am attracted to an aesthetic or challenge–something I have not attempted before–and then experimenting. The majority of works start off intuitively, and then there is a “light bulb” moment, where I understand what I am trying to say and convey through the medium I am using; often it is something I am internalizing from my environment, and expressing creatively–that is the moment I begin my research often stemming from psychoanalysis.

Who are the artists you are inspired by and why? What do you have in common with them?

Oh gosh, what a question! There are many artists I love. Firstly what I am attracted to is the aesthetic of the art work, then I grow intrigued about who the artist is. I realize I am most captivated by artists who’s process is intuitive and often focused on expressing their subconscious experimentally; in other words, often categorized as surrealists. I Love love Louise Bourgeois, Dorothea Tanning, Rene Magrite, and Maya Deren. Although Deren would not be categorized as a surrealist, her avant-garde films possess many surreal attributes. These artists made work intuitively, were open to experiment, and created under any circumstance; making art was second nature for these artists–It was not contemplated or jeopardized by their surroundings– it was another form of breathing; impossible to live without. I relate greatly to this feeling about art and process to create.