From Earth To Sky

At my core, I am a wanderer. Between June 2024 and May 2025, I traveled across six continents, from the Arctic Circle in Finland to the southernmost edge of Chile, creating art and embracing the act of simply being. This exhibition is my love letter to the landscapes and living spirits I encountered along the way, all part of our One World.

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I engage with the world through a lens of wonder, in both my consumption and creation, doing my best to uncover that which generates astonishment, awe, and delight. I believe that fully experiencing the sensation of wonder requires a willingness to truly see and appreciate the interconnectedness of all living beings and the places we inhabit. 

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The photos I selected for this exhibition highlight that interconnectedness – be it the humans going about their day, the animals with one another, or all of them as a part of their surroundings. While I am not in any of the photos, my presence impacted each of them. I was only able to capture these images because I was not perceived as a threat to the subject. While this isn’t the case for my landscapes, the images show the vastness of the world. As a human, I am massive compared to bugs, although I am tiny compared to a brewing storm or the ocean.

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In addition to capturing photos, over the past few years I’ve stumbled into making art with postage stamps from around the world. Thanks to the idea of teaching my 6-year-old pen pal about the history of the United States Postal Service and how stamps used to have specific values, I accidentally became a stamp collector.  

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I became fascinated by how frequently stamps from across the globe depict doves – the birds that symbolize peace, freedom, and love. For generations, postage stamps were the currency of news and information. While we are now in a digital era, our world and the way we understand it is forever shaped by the envelope-concealed messages that postage stamps carried around the world. 

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Through the monochromatic scheme of many stamps, I recreate postage stamp imagery by collaging dozens of stamps from around the world into a unified image. My creations focus on the themes of peace, love, and community. The original stamps that individual pieces are based on are included in the show booklet for reference.

 

Each of the fleeting moments and stamp creations I’m sharing with you generated feelings of wonder in me. I hope at least one piece in this One World show creates a sense of wonder for you, too.