Natural Form
Medium: Mixed media
Size: 44 x 24 × 24 inches
Year: 2026
A shell built at far larger than life, so that its pattern, form, and iridescence become impossible to ignore. The shape was inspired by a snail, while the coloring by an abalone. This was my first sculpture, and I worked through several materials before settling on foam, drywall, sand, and plaster strips for the base. For the surface, I poured paint with silicone oil to make a ground, then added detail to mimic the marbling on a shell. I am most proud of how the layers of color and iridescence came together, with a pattern I had not originally expected.
Escargot
Medium: Mixed media
Size: 10 × 68 × 48 inches
Year: 2026
A begonia leaf built at nearly six feet, where the spiral at its center becomes something you can stand in front of rather than bend down to examine - the same spiral I painted in The Golden Ratio and built in Natural Form, here represented by a plant instead of an animal. I used the same process as Natural Form: foam, drywall, sand, and plaster strips for the base, then poured paint with silicone oil to lay a ground before working the detail in by hand. Every cell in the leaf is picked out individually, which took far longer than the shell did. At this scale, the spiral no longer looks like botany but rather like structure, which is what drew me to the plant.
About My 3D Work
3D Work asks viewers to notice what they have stopped seeing. A shell on a shelf goes unexamined precisely because it is familiar, and making one at four feet tall is a way of forcing one to see.
My interest in pattern began in fourth grade, when I learned about the Fibonacci sequence. I am drawn to how shells, plants, and animals arrive at their own distinct colors, textures, and shapes, and I build oversized, accurate sculptures to give that detail room to be seen. I also make wearable, immersive garments from moss, dried flowers, and wire, drawn to how unrelated materials combine into something new. Barbara Hepworth shaped how I approach this work - her ability to carry organic shape into abstraction, and her use of marble, limestone, and alabaster, informs my own experiments with drywall, plaster, foam, sand, and found objects.
Wearing The Earth
Medium: Mixed Media / Wearable Art
Size: 36 x 24 x 24 inches
Year: 2026
A wearable dress created from moss, fabric, wire, dried and artificial flowers, and gold and gem detailing. I had long wondered why clothing so rarely uses natural materials, so I wanted to create my own dress. Securing the moss was the hard part; I ended up combining glue and stitching to hold it to the fabric. I photographed the piece myself, outdoors, in the kind of place that prompted it. It was my first time shooting my own work, and it showed me how much setting changes an art piece’s overall look.