The natural world harbors hidden forces that shape us in ways we cannot fully grasp. In the quiet, watchful corners of the Hudson Valley, with its dense forests and fog shrouded waters, where time seems warped and the landscape hums with unspoken truths, my work reflects the notion that coming of age is not just about growing older, but also about confronting the unseen forces that shape us as we move through the dark.

Blending realism with distortion to convey the unreliable nature of capturing experience, young figures nestled in nocturnes are caught in unguarded rituals, mischievous and solemn in the dark. Tender, quiet, and carrying an indeterminate sense of unease, these narratives are stolen scenes. We don’t know the outcomes of these rites of passage. My paintings consider how we are all shaped by the landscapes we inhabit, and in turn, how those landscapes are shaped by us. They remind us that growing up is not simply a passage of time, but rather a series of complex, intertwined moments where innocence and experience coexist, sometimes uneasily, in the spaces between.