Everyone has his or her own idea of reality. Some realities are physical, some are mental, chemicals distort some, and some are but a mere perception based on a plethora of factors. All, however, are constructs of our minds to some degree. These fictional photographic worlds are not discovered, but rather a constructed utopia of reality. I collect objet trouvé and minerals from all over the country during meditative nature walks. In an act of exotic displacement, pieces of this botanic trove are assembled to create maquettes. Where life ends, it is repurposed for another to begin with identity and function. A dialogue between nature mort and human intervention conspires with environmental, spiritual, and esoteric undertones. Images and ephemeral flora are montaged and juxtaposed to produce static theatrical compositions that remain still in time. I digitally brush using a surreal color pallet, contrasted tones, and palpable simulated textures. My painterly process produces fabricated uncanny escapist landscapes. The familiar is cloaked among the unfamiliar in an odd reversed relative scale. Irony is pushed through the use of a manufactured reality in order to understand the physical reality that surrounds us. Philosophy and psychology wrestle in this otherworldly space.  

​If one sees an image, believes an image, and believes the place is/was real, then it becomes real in ones mind. Reality becomes as each believer invests its truth value. The manifestation grows, the life of the piece acquires more meaning and begins to breathe. Since this does not depict a purely physical reality, the rules of engagement of an assumed reality do not apply, much like the dream world. Inclusions of creatures from the animal kingdom in my tableaus activate the environment to curiously hover between phantasy and reality. This allows viewers to become more involved and engaged, as they locate these visual clues hidden throughout the image. These worlds exist where fact and fiction melds in the shadow of believable and credible photography. As the spectator is questioning the truth and reality of my work, I invite the viewer to question his or her own fragile reality.