“Although my great aunt is not a nun, she grew up in a convent. I remember going to see her when I was seven years old. An old man---a painter---lived in the guest quarters there, and in exchange for his room, he donated paintings and gave art lessons to the nuns and to my aunt. I wasn't allowed inside the convent itself, but when I went to visit, my aunt sneaked me in so I could see the huge religious paintings he had done. They were beautiful. He never charged money for them; he just wanted to live there and paint. He made a big impression on me, and as I grew up, I knew I wanted to be an artist too. My family was against it. They're in the restaurant business and always said to me, ‘How are you going to make money out of that? You need to grow up. It’s not real.’ But it is real. There are many paths where you might be successful as an artist.
“My installation work ‘Refract’ is on exhibit in the U of M gallery now. This series is about humanity separating itself from nature, from reality. We live in boxes of our own creation most of our lives, distanced from reality by window upon window of technology and information. We can see what's out there, but it's always refracted, always distorted, and the more windows between us and nature, the more distorted our view will be. We can lose ourselves in such a world. We live in a rapidly changing time, and there is no point in trying to stop progress; I’m not even saying that we should. I’m simply documenting what’s happening. The boxes have so many concepts; they evolve. Like other contemporary, minimal art pieces, this installation is very open to perception."
“My installation work ‘Refract’ is on exhibit in the U of M gallery now. This series is about humanity separating itself from nature, from reality. We live in boxes of our own creation most of our lives, distanced from reality by window upon window of technology and information. We can see what's out there, but it's always refracted, always distorted, and the more windows between us and nature, the more distorted our view will be. We can lose ourselves in such a world. We live in a rapidly changing time, and there is no point in trying to stop progress; I’m not even saying that we should. I’m simply documenting what’s happening. The boxes have so many concepts; they evolve. Like other contemporary, minimal art pieces, this installation is very open to perception."