13: Your World/My World - February 2011; Ink on paper 9’’X12’’

I had the idea to create a visual representation of living "inside the box" and "outside the box". I started out this process by creating a soft-cut of a square, where I would contain all color. As I continued to print the soft-cut, I gradually let the colors mix and stretch outside the limits of the square. The piece is titled, Your World/My World, to represent the plainness of a contained, comprehensible, "inside the box" sort of lifestyle in comparison to a layered, semi-ambiguous "outside the box" style of living.

14: Ice Painting –December 2010; Oil on canvas 18’’X24

I had spent the summer in Alaska where I learned how to ice climb for a few days on the Matanuska Glacier. This painting is of a 75 foot crevasse that I climbed out of. I experimented with impasto using only a pallet knife to mock the texture of the ice as it crumbled with each whack of the axe.

15: Ode to Yves Klein –December 2010 size varies

The assignment was a Walker response project. I was particularly intrigued by the body printing in the Yves Klein exhibit, so I decided to create my own Ode to Yves Klein with body prints of my hands, feet, elbow, and ear. The photo is the collection of body prints displayed in the Martha Bennett Gallery at my school.

16: Talkeetna –October 2010; Acrylic on wood 12’’X16’'

“Silhouettes on the beach: they’re not there anymore. I can see them inside my head; beautiful: skipping stones into the glittery water”

The assignment was to paint a picture from a photograph. The photograph included the silhouettes of a handful of my friends on the beech in Talkeetna, Alaska, at Denali, which was peeking through the clouds. Their absence in the painting reflects their absence in my life, as they do not live in Minnesota with me. When I look at the painting, I can see them but the viewer cannot, like how I am able to tell stories, but the memories can only exist in my mind.

17: Untitled (Live the Art) –June 2011; Tempera paint on cardboard 8'6''X6'4.5''

I wanted to get all of my friends together and make art. The group collaboration was to make large-scale tempera paintings on cardboard as well as graffiti on cardboard in a warehouse with a party-vibe. This is a photograph of one of the cardboard pieces displayed in the Martha Bennett Gallery at my school. The range of content and ability fascinating when brought together to form one collection - from trees to faces, words to graffiti tags, peace fingers to splatters, to body parts, abstract lines, and shapes.

18/19: Installation View: Eyes; Belgium – April 2010; Oil on Canvas 22’’X10’’, December 2009; Oil on canvas 20’’X16

I got an email from the West Suburban Teen Clinic requesting that I send in some photos of my artwork. They were looking for student artwork to display in the lobby, and I was referred to from a classmate who works there as a part of the teen council.