Art is where I turn pressure, emotion, and lived experience into beauty, energy, and connection.
You decide who will appear in Artforum Magazine, take home $25,000, and display their work at The Art of Elysium's Salon!
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My favorite work to create lives between abstraction and figuration. I’m drawn to paintings that carry emotional tension, layered surface, raw gesture, and traces of human presence. Whether through text, marks, or fractured faces, I love making art that feels psychologically alive—bold on the surface, but deeper and more vulnerable the longer you stay with it.
Where do you find inspiration?I find inspiration in human behavior, emotional contradiction, and the tension between what we show and what we hide. Color, language, memory, city surfaces, overheard phrases, and everyday visual noise all find their way into my work. I’m especially inspired by the beauty that can emerge from pressure, imperfection, and things that have been layered, interrupted, or overlooked.
What would you do with $25,000?I would use $25,000 to expand my studio practice in a meaningful way: larger canvases, framing, materials, documentation, and stronger exhibition opportunities. I’d also invest in presenting the work more professionally so it can reach more collectors, curators, and viewers. Most importantly, it would give me the freedom to make my next body of work with greater scale, focus, and ambition.
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