BIO

My earliest creative memory is drawing intricate cartoons in my elementary school notebooks. The designs were so colorful and unique that my classmates wanted me to do the same in theirs. Years later, I would spray paint over citrus, onions, broccoli, and more, then use those same fruits and vegetables to stamp acrylic paint onto the outlines. I had no idea this would foreshadow the art style I eventually developed. Ultimately, though, cooking captured my attention more than visual art.

Although I initially wanted to, I never attended culinary school. I worked in every kind of mediocre kitchen you can imagine and always left feeling unfulfilled. For years, I sought a higher level of execution and innovation in cooking. Eventually, I ended up at NoMad (after responding to a Craigslist ad), Daniel Humm’s highly anticipated restaurant that opened in 2012. We went on to earn three stars from The New York Times and a Michelin star.

This was the kitchen that provided both the skill set and mindset needed to open my own concept in New York and succeed against the odds. But that story is for another time. It took five years surviving as a seasonal Brooklyn food tent, using only our apartment kitchen, before the opportunity to open a restaurant on the other side of the country presented itself.

Finally, in 2020, under the stress of construction delays and cost overruns, my art style was born. We couldn’t afford art for the dining room. So I made it.

STATEMENT

This art excites me the way a new recipe idea does. I become obsessed with potential texture in art in the same way I do with potential flavor combinations. Just as I do with my food, I attempt to create bold, colorful, balanced, heavily textured pieces. Some are vivid, others mellow.

None of them reflect my current emotions. Instead, they reflect place and time. Certain ingredients are only available during specific seasons, such as sungold tomato stems or sea urchin shells. Pigments dry at different rates depending on outside temperature. I have no studio, so all pieces are subjected to the elements, and sometimes nature becomes an unexpected collaborator.

Each piece is one of one. And because I am not afforded the consistency found in traditional paints, I relinquish authorship to a certain degree. What I imagine a piece becoming in my mind rarely correlates with reality.

In addition to materials like bones, vegetable trim, blood, wine, tea, spices, and charcoal, I use other elements from the kitchen to create depth and complexity. Cheesecloth, ice, tape, sheet trays, and bowls are all common tools. As much as I’ve learned through persistent experimentation over the last five years, it feels like I’ve merely scratched the surface.

My career began with the pursuit of flavor. I have always been excited by the new, the unconventional, and the obscure. Now I am in pursuit of something different: what happens when food is given the opportunity to express itself beyond what ends up on the plate.

MY WORK

The world of describing and selling art is relatively new to me. I believe my style most closely aligns with abstraction. I prefer larger pieces because I find them more impactful and generally do not produce work under 24” x 24”.

All pieces have been thoroughly dried, scraped of excess material, and finished with both varnish spray and acrylic sealer. After a few weeks, they are essentially odorless, depending on the pigments used. Sometimes they are odorless immediately upon drying. By odorless, I mean when smelled directly with one’s nose to the canvas.

Over the years, I have learned which pigments stain permanently and which eventually fade. There are pieces from many years ago that still look the same, while others have slightly transformed. I do offer the option to swap out a piece if such a transformation feels undesirable. This has not happened yet, but I want to offer it just in case.

ART FOR SALE

Most of my work is listed here, but I have additional pieces available for viewing upon request. People often visit my apartment to browse what is available. It is always my pleasure to talk through the process and the stories associated with each work.

I am continually adding pieces to the shop and may offer prints in the future. I am also open to commissions for specific materials or sizes. Message me on Instagram or email me to initiate that process.