I am a Nebraska native who grew up with family curio cabinets full of ceramic birds, nightly buzz of cicadas, and an appreciation of a landscape that others believe mundane. I have also been a practicing physician for more than a decade. Both experiences have informed my work. My works are made almost entirely of materials resold at thrift store and garage sales, and things thrown out in the trash like tin and aluminum cans. I combine these cast-offs with materials and ideas from the natural world. Insect carcasses encased in resin. Aluminum cans made into native Nebraska flowers, like chicory, knapweed and thistles.

As a physician, I work with challenging patients: “criminals,” drug “addicts,” mentally ill, the abusers and the abused. The discarded members of our society. My artistic projects represent a dialectic present in both humanity and nature. The concept that two conflicting ideas exist at the same time. Both humanity and the natural world are full of people, places, and things that are ugly and horrific. Conversely, these same things have the potential to be magnificent, awe inspiring and beautiful.  My art is my way to process this tension and share this dialectic instead of shying away from it. Humanity is both terrible and beautiful as is the world we live in.

Artistic Background

Self-taught artist, native Nebraskan, physician. Art is a way to process the day-to-day challenge of witnessing human suffering, the hard work of finding beauty in ugliness, and to reflect on the parts of ourselves we may give away in the process.