“I create as a ritual; I’m restless otherwise. Words fail so often, but I’ve spent years trying to capture the ineffable with them. My identity as an artist is shaped by time spent at a typewriter,busking. I work cross-disciplinarily, and my paintings often reach the same chorus as my poems. my work is often rooted in the rhythms of folk and country music and in beatnik disillusionment, exploring American discomfort and queer identity. I’m drawn to rural decay, industrial cancer, old advertisements, railyards, and the rusted underbelly of imperial beasts. My subject matter is often dark, but I use color garishly, with a vibrancy overload to contrast with rusted realities. Iook to the past, to offbeat topical artists, following a tradition of change, hoping my art connects with those uncertain about how to navigate the future. I aim to ground myself in my humanity through tangible acts of creation and to capture the dissonance of American life. ”