Exploring the boundaries between fashion and art has been a source of inspiration for my work for many years. I refer back to the ideas that fashion is meant to be beautiful and/or functional and art is meant to be honest and tell a story. If I set these as the “rules” for fashion and art, I can then find ways to break those rules and create fashion that tells a story or artwork that scrutinizes different standards of beauty.

My paintings are inspired by society’s relationship with fashion and beauty, which is a give and take. It gives forms of expression and takes away individuality with mass production, it gives new design by taking inspiration from the old, and it can give confidence and in the same moment create insecurities. I find this push and pull very intriguing and worth further exploration through my artwork.

In my wearable pieces, I generally work with unconventional materials which blurs the lines between fashion and art. Where this sacrifices some functionality, it also allows me to tell a story or pose a question to the viewer. This also gives me the opportunity to challenge myself to find new methods of creating and stretch the limits of certain materials.

My processes are slow and meticulous with extreme attention to detail. I begin with extensive planning, research, sketching, and writing about my intent for the piece. This allows me to be intentional with every decision that I make in order to best communicate my ideas through my artwork.

Both my paintings and wearable pieces are inspired by my interest in the many sides of fashion and society’s various interpretations of beauty. In my paintings I hope to prompt the viewer to evaluate their own perceptions of beauty, and in my wearable pieces I want the viewers to recognize that fashion and art are not mutually exclusive and to start searching for meaning in fashion.