“I’ve come to realize in recent years that at its core, almost everything that I’ve ever been truly passionate about crafting has been based on a resounding desire to connect with others. Throughout the course of my two-decades-long metal working journey, I’ve dabbled in almost everything. From fine jewelry making, to forged tools, fabricated furniture, pattern welded steel and mokume gane, functional objects and ornamental iron, etc. but only in recent years have I discovered that some of the most fulfilling work for me to create these days is sculpture. While each application of craft has its distinctive significance in terms of the intimate relationship each item cultivates with its wearer/user/possessor, creating a sculpture removes the burden of functionality outside of it's simply existing. And in hindsight, this has always been where my passion has lain. Before discovering my crush on sculpture, the things I’d find myself most enthusiastically creating were objects or gifts that were inspired by others or useful to them specifically in some way. There was no greater feeling than recognizing the nuance and uniqueness a person possessed and becoming so inspired by it as to manifest an object into being. The joy of witnessing someone feel truly seen and having evidence of that fact in a tangible object is just the bees’ knees for me, it’s the closest perception of connection I can imagine. However, the longer I made people things and as my technical skills improved over the years, so too did the expectation that I would commodify my craft for profit and consumption.

It is no secret that we are currently living amidst a global health crisis of loneliness, isolation, and desperation-what some have dubbed the ‘loneliness economy’. Our modern society fosters a culture of transactional exchange, where the worth and desirability of a person or an object is reduced to its usefulness, benefit, and/or monetary value. I’ve begun to recognize that for me personally, in this era of profound collective and personal isolation, unless I’m making something that I felt should exist simply because I felt like it should, I’m left with a deep sense of despair. I would much rather folks express interest in seeing and experiencing the emotions evoked by something I’ve made and finding ways to connect and find solidarity through that than in the interest of gaining notoriety or compensation. Going forward, I’d like to imagine a world where we can barter with our feelings."