My art explores narrative and its relation to the human body and geometric archetypes. As a new media artist trained in classical narrative and industry focused character animation, I produce work that touches on universal human archetypes both within and outside conventional narrative structures.

During the Fall 2018 semester, I was accepted into and participated in the competitive NYFA workshop titled “Artist as Entrepreneur Bootcamp”.  This workshop brought together around 18 artists of various backgrounds and disciplines from all over the state for an intensive four-day session covering everything from legal issues, marketing, fundraising, artist statements, and much more.  The session was revelatory as it opened to me a thriving local arts community and helped me realize how I could better market myself as an artist.  I took the workshop with the goal of moving my work into the gallery in addition to film festivals.

At the end of Fall 2018 semester, I participated in the Pensacola Museum of Art’s CUBED: LUMINOUS show which exhibited numerous works by national and international artists on LED cubes.  These works, by necessity, were all 1:1 forcing me to work in a new aspect ratio and compositional schema.  The work created for this show, METATRON, follows some of the themes of growth, geometry, and symmetry established in previous works.

These themes were coalesced into a duo show with colleague Jason Harrington in the Houghton Gallery of the 171 Cedar Arts Center in Corning, NY.  This opportunity came about because of a connection I made at the NYFA workshop.  An artist in attendance works as the director of the 171 Cedar Arts Center and invited me to install an exhibition.  I brought colleague Jason Harrington on board to round out the show with works of various styles.  The title of the show, SYMBOL + SYMMETRY, speaks to commonalities between our works in theme and execution.  For this show, I utilized a number of still, video, and interactive works created over the past 8 – 9 years.  I also recreated an interactive piece Pinboard for Meditation.  The original was written in Processing 1 and had to be heavily updated and modified for Processing 3 to run on contemporary hardware and operating systems.  The resultant installation Pinboard for Meditation 2 was created in collaboration with former colleague (and contributing artist to the installation’s first iteration) Mark Franz of Ohio University.

In my second semester, I began reaching out to other departments and schools to initiate collaborations to serve my creative research and curriculum building goals. I met with Josh Tome and Dr. Rumit Kakar of the School of Health Science and Human Performance regarding the potential use of their VICON motion capture system.  I successfully funded a proposal through the Technology Planning Committee that allows Park students and faculty to gain experience on industry-standard motion capture hardware and software.  This technology is used in animation, VFX, games, and virtual/augmented reality in addition to its current use in biomechanical research.  Having experience with both optical and inertial motion capture, I am now utilizing this system in the development of my creative research and curricula.

My work with motion capture has formed the basis of much of my creative research over the past four years. This work has also driven me to learn real-time rendering in Unreal Engine for use in CG film production, rapid visualization, and virtual production. I delivered conference presentations on my work with motion capture and virtual production at the Pop Culture Association, University Film and Video Association, and Broadcast Educators Association national and international conferences.  These talks focused on the use of motion capture in a hybrid production model and changes to pedagogy afforded by Unreal Engine and real-time rendering. 

In Spring 2020 I was awarded a Pendleton Research Grant and a course release to create a narrative short I’ve been developing for some time.  I had begun preliminary work on the project when the pandemic hit.  Because the project had intended to use actors in the motion capture studio and utilize student workers in a face-to-face production environment, the work was suspended due to the restrictions posed by the pandemic. Having some preliminary motion-capture data to work with, I began considering other projects I had been developing.  I reached out to a former colleague from FAU, then at Columbus State University in GA (now at the University of Central Florida) to propose a new media interpretation of Claude McKay’s classic Harlem Renaissance poem America.  Originally published in 1921, the poem’s words and tone rang true in the troubled days of Spring 2020, and I felt this project would be perfect for the poem’s 100^th anniversary.  Using motion-capture data, Demetrius Dukes and I created 4M3R1CA. a moving and impactful visual accompaniment to this powerful poem that has now been screened internationally. 

With works like 4M3R1CA, I have begun to develop a way in which I can adapt my aesthetic to more pointed, poignant, and personal statements.  The past five years have been marked by many significant changes in my life and the world at large.  I lost both my fathers to cancer, a cousin to a heroin overdose, and (at times it seems) my country to mass psychosis.  Since working at Ithaca College, my youngest child has been diagnosed non-speaking autistic.  These changes and struggles have helped me to grow as an artist, educator, and person.  In creative works I’m now developing, I hope to delve into more personal and emotional content.  I feel that I am coming to a point of maturity in my work where I am finally comfortable doing that. 

In addition to my personal projects, I have been providing design, compositing, and visual effects work for two projects by documentarian and director John D. Scott.  Elizabeth Bishop and the Art of Losing required extensive text and effects work.  I completed a significant portion of this work and provided extensive consulting, earning the top credit for visual effects.  This feature-length documentary has been distributed by CBC and PBS in addition to screening at numerous international venues.  I am currently the primary effects artist working on his next project Modern Fables, providing titles, visual effects, and compositing.

Regardless of the content or method of approach, I am confident that my creative research endeavors will continue to evolve and fuel my pedagogy.  By actively engaging in my own creative research, I am remaining on top of trends in the industry, creating compelling work, and bringing that energy and excitement to my classes.