I love creating art because my cat insists I make more portraits of him
You decide who will appear in Artforum Magazine, take home $25,000, and display their work at The Art of Elysium's Salon!
I create mixed-media paintings using acrylic and metallic leaf, often on upcycled surfaces. My work is best known through The Many Hats of Dipper—a character-driven series that blends humor with themes of emotional adaptability and connection. I’m drawn to how metal leaf shifts with light, so each piece changes depending on when you look at it.
Where do you find inspiration?I find inspiration in real-life moments with my animals and the wildlife around me—though my cat has made it very clear he expects to be the main subject. I build my paintings from these moments, adding imagination and personality.
What would you do with $25,000?I would develop The Many Hats of Dipper into a traveling exhibition. I’d scale the work into larger, light-responsive paintings using real gold leaf, secure a studio space, and invest in professional scanning so the work can exist as both originals and prints. Honestly, I think it would be pretty funny—and kind of amazing—if a series of cat-in-hat paintings ended up traveling through galleries.
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