I am an artist and art historian born in Minnesota and raised in Colorado. I hold a BA in sculpture and graphic design from Gordon College and an MA in modern and contemporary art history, theory, and criticism from Azusa Pacific University. My interest in twentieth-century modernism—particularly Surrealism, the Bauhaus school, and Abstract Expressionism—informs both my scholarship and the creation of my own artwork. Most notably, I was one of over 30 artists to work on Natura Obscura, an immersive installation at the Museum of Outdoor Arts in Colorado, and I was a Young-Artist-in-Residence at the Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center in Denmark. My scholarship has been featured in MDPI’s Arts journal and used to create public programming at Historic New England’s Gropius House. My artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally. I now live with my wife in Massachusetts.

My artwork depends on the moment of encounter. In ceramic sculpture, Polaroid photographs, and other mediums, I create otherworldly objects that pull the viewer out of the mundane. When we round the corner and are confronted with an object, a creature, or an environment which we have not seen before, we walk the line between our inner and our outer worlds. We look at what is in front of us while delving into our memories, trying to find connections that make sense of this new entity. These bizarre experiences integrate daily life with both our memories and our imaginations, making us more aware of what we imagine, what we remember, and what we see.

“I believe in the future resolution of these two states, dream and reality, which are seemingly so contradictory, into a state of absolute reality, a surreality, if one may so speak.”

-André Breton

Looking for my graphic design work? Visit jk-design.myportfolio.com.