I feel that people spend too much time worrying about their lives and how the world affects them. I instead want people to create a relationship with another living thing on this planet and contemplate its existence. I want to take people out of the “human world” even if it is for only a minute.
The goal of my work is to address the viewer and get them to think about things other than themselves, using the subject of interesting birds that I find, research, and paint. I paint my subjects in a traditional way that gives people a clear context to relate to the species I want to discuss. I want to inspire in viewers a curiosity, seeing a bird that perhaps they didn't even think could exist on this planet. I strongly believe that on some level people are truly interested in subjects other than themselves, and that is why the human race has been able to discover so many amazing things. My work aims to remind people of their ability to explore and discover new thing in a visual context.
I try to paint my birds in a way that makes them accessible to people, that way a viewer can look at the painting and understand my message. In this way, I try to bridge that gap between people who already know the subject I am addressing and people who do not know or care, hopefully inspiring them. It is important for people to clearly understand my work because the topics I deal with have environmental urgency. Environmental changes are happening rapidly, and if it takes someone 20 years to understand what my work is addressing it might be too late. It is important for people to understand that they need step outside of the human world and pay attention to some other living thing, to realize that environmental changes are happening, and these changes are going to impact them. Also I try to reach a broader audience with my work. I want to be able to reach people who perhaps do not have a traditional art background, so I strive to make my message clear and understandable to all viewers. That way the issues I address can begin to be discussed.