Thesis

For my work, I’ve combined my knowledge of illustration and ceramics to create 3D images that weave humorous or dark stories. I have always been drawn to line work, character design, and vivid environments within illustration, and I think it's interesting how you can draw a 3D environment in a 2D space and how a single image can tell detailed stories without any words. I have taken this fundamental illustration idea and given it a more physical form through ceramics. 

I have drawn monsters all my life that now it has become ingrained in my art practice. For this current body of work, I expanded on the storytelling of my monsters and built a city filled with these characters. When people look at my city, I want them to see something that somewhat resembles our world but instead of normal human beings, it's filled with  weird monsters living out their daily lives. I take inspiration from the mundane tasks of life like going grocery shopping, eating food, and sleeping. I then take them and put my own spin on them by thinking how a monster would do these tasks. So, you will see a monster sleeping on top of some buildings, a restaurant serving the building itself to its customers, and monsters buying bags of chips that are big as the building. Our world can be such a boring place, and that's why I want to instead see it through the lens of my monster world. 

I enjoy sprinkling my own sense of humor into sometimes dark situations, and using my monsters is a nice representation of that. For example, as humans we cry, but for different reasons. And I have always viewed crying as a negative thing so I wanted to give it a goofier spin. For instance, I took a serious affair, therapy, and gave it its own store front in my city. I then placed a tissue store right next to it, and they both advertise the other's business. I want people to see dark but funny moments like these and be able to relate to it, but also be able to laugh about it. I think what is nice about the monsters is that you don’t have to take them seriously but instead be bewildered and amused by them. I enjoy adding my own spin to how we view the world, and my pieces have allowed me to invite viewers to join me in my weird monster-filled world.