My Big Black America, 2015. In Collection of Ashville Art Museum. Artist photo Lawrence M. Miner, Jr.

Can a true history exist if no true memory can be made? This tension between subjective memory and objective history underpins my aesthetic approach. I construct fictional narratives to guide my process, posing and answering questions about the imagined lives of my objects. These stories inform aesthetic choices—distressing, gouging, or peeling paint to simulate age and wear. Though wholly fabricated, the objects appear familiar, suggesting a history, value, or cultural weight that never truly existed. In this way, I invite viewers to engage with invented artifacts that blur the line between memory and history.

Mark-making and idioms also play a central role in my practice. Each mark, layered through meditation and narrative, carries the residue of imagined time, intention, and use. Whether I’m spray-painting words on plywood, applying oil crayon and compressed charcoal to paper, or carving through thick layers of paint, I work at the intersection of meditative mark-making and the layered meanings embedded in language. Along the journey, I explore questions of spiritual faiths, home, place, erasure, and belonging.