My artwork is based on the concept of growth, connecting visual representations of growth found in nature to human development. Compared to every other animal species, humans have far more variety in how they change and respond to their upbringing. Growth is usually considered a synonym for improvement, but oftentimes growth can be a response to trauma or illness. My work uses metaphor and symbolism to try and expound what cannot be summed up by science alone, and to try and explore the minutiae of human growth.
I primarily depict crystals, fungi, plants, and fire, using a visual language of symbols and color. I work in watercolors, depicting landscapes that are both familiar and fantastical. Once I have finished painting the background in watercolor, I move on to paint the foreground with acrylic paint. By doing this, the picture gains a tactility that enhances the feelings of growth. I use the interactions between complementary and analogous colors to alter the apparent energy within a given piece to be either more positive or more negative.
When I began exploring these types of natural growth, I discovered that everything is connected, and patterns found in nature can be found again and again. Just like different plants or crystals flourish under different conditions, humans operate in the same way. I chose to depict such a wide variety of growth I chose to depict such a wide variety of growth because no two people are the same. Everybody experiences a different combination in styles of upbringing, so I really wanted to express as much of the spectrum as I could. I see watercolors as being one of the few art forms that grows itself. When a pigment is places into a pool of water, it expands immediately and covers the surface. It is also an excellent medium for layering, which allows other, thicker mediums to be build up on top of it. By building up layers and showing the growth expanding off the surface, it allows the art to move past the picture plane and gives the viewer a more intimate relationship with what they are seeing.
