Have you ever had a moment in life where you realize you are pursuing something that you initially never thought you’d do? Growing up, I was super involved with playing ice hockey. Throughout high school, I thought I was going to become another student athlete studying business at a tiny college. I travelled extensively during this time from New England, to New York, Florida, Michigan, California, Arizona, and Canada. Art was more of a side interest during high school since I was so devoted to my sport. At this time, I mostly painted watercolor and oil landscapes, capturing the scenery from the new place I had just visited.

Now, as a senior in college, I have gone back to what I love, and that is creating art. Post pandemic, I have always drawn inspiration from these happy and busy times in my life. My current body of work reflects these past experiences and still touches on these places I’ve visited. The most prominent memory I have is a trip from California to Arizona with my mom. The constant blue sky, warm sun, green cacti, and continuous mountain and valley views are still vivid in my mind today. 

 

My primary medium is steel. I love the hard and rustic quality that metal brings. Suiting up while using fire, practicing techniques over and over; it all sort of gets me back into the athlete mindset. I use a forge that blasts fire to heat up my flat sheets of metal, then use a hammer or pliers to bend and curve the metal into organic shapes that mimic those found in nature. Transforming something that feels more hard and almost masculine into organic, sweeping, swooping, more soft and feminine shapes allows me to create pieces that sort of honor a past version of me and her experiences.