RETROSPECTIVE PILGRIMAGE

2019, 2023

The experience of space, the structures that define it, is incredibly personal and complex. This series of sketches is an act of reflection, an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between spirituality and beauty via memories. In retracing the lines of photographs I took several years before, unresolved questions resurfaced. A complicated perspective revealed itself, holding love and fear so tightly that they both melt into the imposing form above. These images were drawn from significant experiences and the exploration is still incomplete.

This work was my contribution to the Calvin University Center Art Gallery exhibition,

The Architecture of Prayer: an international survey of the contemporary church and its architecture.

STARRY NIGHT OVER THE RHÔNE

2020 - 2022

This paint by number project depicts "Starry Night Over the Rhône" by Vincent Van Gogh.
Each of the 24 individual colors was painted and documented upon completion.
These stills have been compiled into a video that shows the progression of the painting.

MINIATURE ROOMS

2020 - 2021

These models were created from predetermined kits, but with various amounts of customized features. The kits included wood, wire, paper prints, fabric, paint, electrical lighting supplies, and some unique pieces. Some of these features were altered in appearance, combination, or organization for the sake of personal design preference.

Each room is around 1:24 scale.

book shop, art studio, vintage office, modern office, coffee shop, coffee house, kitchen, holiday home

Originally, the miniature rooms were just an escape from the virtual environment. However, they have also aided the development of my skills in model construction and photography, as well as my care for detail.

FIGURE DRAWINGS

2018

These sketches were created as part of an undergraduate drawing course that focused on gestural drawing. They are quick studies of posing models on newsprint. The first two use graphite as the medium and exhibit two different poses from the same vantage point. The others sketches are in ink; however, different types of sticks were used to make the marks. While the flat edged tool exhibits the human figure in the round through broad strokes, the pointed tool contrasts this with detailed contours.

The goal of these exercises was to train the eye to observe the human form closely, but quickly, and experiment with the various tools to produce a style of depicting what the eye sees. They enforced familiarity with the human form and the tools used to portray it through iterative practice.

COLORING WALL

2017

This project was inspired by the Calvin College Center Art Gallery exhibition, Stirring the World: German Printmaking in the Age of Luther. The exhibition occurred as a celebration of the five-hundredth anniversary of Martin Luther’s Ninety-five Theses. Because the pieces in the show are almost entirely black and white prints, the gallery commissioned me to design a coloring wall for outside of the gallery that was based on the show.

I studied many works by Albrecht Dürer, one of the most famous printmakers of the time, in order to understand and imitate his style. Many of his prints reflect the fear of the coming apocalypse that was present during the religious reformation and the monsters associated with it. In the drawing, I depicted several mythical creatures that have similar features to the monsters in Dürer’s prints. I originally produced a 10” x 5” drawing, turned that drawing into a transparency, and projected it so I could trace the image with sharpie for the actual wall drawing, which is 6’ x 3’.

YOUNG WIZARDS ACADEMY CREST

2016

These drawings were produced for the Camp Curious: Young Wizards Academy that I taught at the Grand Rapids Public Museum for several summers. The camp was based on the books and movies from J. K. Rowling’s wizarding world, so we created houses for the campers to be sorted into, just like in the books.

I designed a crest that is similar to the Hogwarts crest. However, the mascots for each house are popular items in the museum: a carousel horse, a fin whale skeleton, a mastodon skeleton, and the clock tower. The Latin inscription at the bottom translates as, “Never poke a hibernating wolverine,” which hints at the Hogwarts motto, but adapts it for the state of Michigan.