Artist Statement

The Mirror Series started with a very simple question: what does art see when it looks in the mirror? Because of social media platforms, we’re experiencing an unparalleled level of obsession with our own images. The Mirror Series explores image obsession and mental disorder as it relates to our real or imagined image. With this work, I’m using simple shapes and colors in opposition to illustrate different degrees of self-awareness and mental health. In essence, this work represents a private dialogue between self and reflected self – not unlike the distance between yourself and your bathroom mirror.

The Umasi Collection, on the other hand, is specifically designed to blur the line between furniture and sculpture. Since 2005, each piece in this collection is a shotgun marriage of materials – with perfect panels that collide into organic elements. Scrap metal, used telephone poles, abandoned trampoline parts, salvaged ship masts, old bicycle frames, crushed aluminum cans, and structural beams from demolished buildings are some of the central ingredients in the collection. These ingredients are reborn to create exquisite and sometimes controversial functional and nonfunctional objects.

Thank you for your interest in my work.