WHERE DO YOU CURRENTLY CALL HOME TODAY?
I live in Brooklyn, New York.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR CURRENT PRACTICE?
Thus far, it’s been a continuous cycle of reading, photographing, and editing. But what I am beginning to deeply enjoy is meeting with artists that want to publish work, and helping them bring their ideas to fruition.
WHO AND/OR WHAT INSPIRE YOU IN YOUR WORK?
Just walking around, in and of itself, provides quite a bit of stimulation and inspiration. I am constantly reading and listening to music, as well. Sebald, Borges, Carver, Robbins, MF DOOM, Meredith Monk, Madlib, Sun Ra–a lot of fiction, jazz, and experimental music.
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT?
Some things have panned out, but the accomplishments I have my mind on are long term and haven’t been completed yet.
HOW DO YOU EARN YOUR LIVING?
I am currently working as a photographer and archivist at a gallery in Soho. Beyond that, I freelance photographing artwork and publish, with a very close collaborator, different artists’ works under our publishing imprint, RITA.
DESCRIBE YOUR EXPERIENCE AT PARSONS
It was an excellent experience. There are a lot of great minds at Parsons.
WHAT IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT THING YOU LEARNED AT THE PARSONS?
That an art education is an augmentation of your perspective on the world. This extends beyond art–any form of successful education changes the way one sees themselves and what exists around them.
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR CURRENT STUDENTS, ABOUT THEIR TIME IN THE PROGRAM OR THEIR CAREERS?
I am not in a place to give much advice. All I can say is to trust your intuition, take in as much as possible, and be kind and critical. More logistically speaking, invest all of your money into your practice. Whenever I come across some money, it always gets spent on books, supplies, equipment–the money always comes back.
LOOKING BACK WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THE STUDENTS JUST ABOUT TO GRADUATE OR OUR VERY RECENT GRADUATES?
Create your own opportunities, and in Bukowski’s words, don’t try. Just trust yourself, create what you’d like–it may have success now, it may have success in 20 or 100 years.
