What is your favorite type of art to create?

I like making art that straddles the line between reality and fiction, with the bulk of my work attempting to foster a conversation between those opposites; while my drawings work pervasively with dreams and imagination, I see the incorporation of realism as necessary in order to make my work palatable for the viewer. Any recognizable iconography will serve as an "anchor" or symbolic focal point, thereby grounding even the most outlandish images, because the audience has something to hold on to.

Where do you find inspiration?

Most of my work is a visual representation of my stream of consciousness; I take a free associative approach, starting with a simple image and then building outward, using material from my dreams, feelings, and memories as kindling. I also utilize my creative practice as a way of grappling with mental health challenges, and for this purpose it has never failed me as a sustainable crutch. Psychology, philosophy, and the synthesis of psychic suffering are the ideological foundation of my work.

What would you do with $25,000?

I would give a small portion to friends and to charity, then reinvest the rest towards my own career. Even half of the stipulated prize would be enough to work on renting my own studio space, which I think would make my practice vastly easier (as of right now, space constraints often play a role in preventing me from working with the scale, or the mediums, that I would be exploring in a heartbeat given the proper resources).