27
I turned 27 today.
I’m feeling pensive.
I’ve been thinking a lot about life and art — about what it means to begin the voyage of selling images while still seeking depth of experience. It’s a strange line to toe: pushing boundaries, but doing so in a way that might also match a couch. For a long time, the art snob in me was offended by that idea. The notion of “painting a couch-matcher” for some wealthy interior designer felt like capitulation, like forfeiting seriousness in exchange for comfort.
But somewhere along the way, that rigidity loosened.
early to bed 2, 2025. available here
I’ve found myself engaging in visual play more openly — more easily… enjoying the delight of looking, of living with images, of letting them exist as visual experiences first, and as intellectual objects second. I want the intellectual layer to be there for you to explore if you feel like going there, but I also want to provide the much simpler/purer form of visual pleasure. you know, for the purists… and the simpletons too!
Painting gave me a deep appreciation for how images work: how atmosphere accumulates, how color and tone hold emotional weight, how a picture can quietly shape the atmosphere in a room. Lately, that appreciation has been showing up for me in my photographs, which feel increasingly painterly — not in a superficial or purely technical way, but in how they prioritize mood, composition, and presence.
Photography, for me, has revealed itself to be a near-perfect creative release. I’m absolved from some of the tedium of painting, and the imagecraft becomes more cognitive and logistical. The work shifts from prolonged manual labor to orchestration: building situations, shaping light, sourcing props, making decisions. The labor hasn’t disappeared — it’s just transmuted itself into something else. that shift has made the work feel more agile, more playful, and more sustainable.
under the rug, 2025. available here
What I’m realizing is that palatability isn’t the enemy of depth. An image that can live comfortably in a space — on a wall, in someone’s daily life — doesn’t have to surrender its complexity to do so. If anything, that friction between ease and meaning is where I’m most interested in working right now.
Today, all of this feels especially present because I’m dropping off work for my first group show.
A curator approached me and asked to include my photographs in an upcoming exhibition. He requested one image in particular, and asked me to choose two more to accompany it. The opening is this coming Saturday, December 13th. And today — my 27th birthday — I’m dropping off the framed work at smith contemporary.
under the rug, framed in flat black without border ♡
I’m hesitant to lean too hard into talk of synchronicity, or anything else in 10-dollar-word territory for that matter… it can feel a little woo-woo to say out loud. But it’s hard to ignore these types of unexpected alignments of events. Turning 27, letting go of certain old defenses, stepping into a more public relationship with my work, and physically placing these images into someone else’s hands — it all converges at once. Maybe it doesn’t mean anything mystical. Or maybe it simply means I’m paying closer attention.
What I do know is that I feel incredible about the images themselves — and about all the work that went into making them. I’m deeply proud of this body of work, and genuinely excited to share it. That excitement extends beyond this show and into a broader shift happening right now in my practice.
I’m in the midst of launching my online presence in earnest: a website that’s really more of a small constellation — Squarespace for the core site, Shopify for print sales, a mailchimp mailing list for more direct communication, and a more intentional, increased presence on Instagram. All of these pieces are coming online not as separate efforts, but as parts of the same gesture: bringing the work to people rather than waiting to be discovered.
As I look ahead to what my 27th year might hold, I feel a strong pull outward — to the streets, to the public, to the places where art meets real life. I’ve been applying to art festivals and fairs all over the country and actively searching for commercial spaces for pop-up exhibitions and gallery events. I’m excited by opportunities I’m seeing in Houston, Seattle, Chicago, Milwaukee, new york, Kansas City, Cape Cod, St. Petersburg, miami, and beyond. I’m casting a wide net this year.
It’s a lot! this is an incredible volume of work for one person. I’m doing this alongside a full-time job as another artist’s studio assistant, plus recurring audio work at a nearby performing arts center. It’s demanding, and sometimes overwhelming. but I’m eager to shoulder it. I feel energized by the scale of it.
I’m chomping at the bit.
I’m a young man with ambition, energy, and a creative spirit — and, I hope, a good heart to boot. I’m bringing my full self to this work. I’m betting on myself early, and that means taking on real financial risk. But I believe the support is out there. the collectors, the viewers, the people who want to live with images like these.
leap, and the net will appear!
now, i will enjoy my birthday book ♡
“the unified field”, by david lynch. many know lynch for his films, but he’s a painter at heart.