Artist Statement

My conceptually based work in various media has evolved into interdisciplinary video installations in cars that addresses issues of identity and personal struggle. The cars provide a physicality and context for the video. They reference my experience as the son of a third generation auto mechanic and my employment in a body shop. There my visual aesthetic developed by spending hours in preparation to achieve flawless finishes. Higher education and living abroad have added a conceptual edge to my artistic focus. This background influences me to use familiar objects as symbols that are combined to achieve a new meaning. It is these unorthodox combinations that seduce the audience’s curiosity to explore the work.

I attempt to bring attention to subjects that often fall outside the public interest. „Eins Werden“ focused on portraying the identity of a modern Germany. I fused the front of a West German Mercedes Benz to the rear of an East German Trabant to symbolize the re-unification of the country while audio and videos after WWII until the Berlin Wall’s fall were heard and projected on the windows. Using the symbolism that each car represented for the manufacturing country, I strove to illustrate the dissimilar mentalities of each nation and the difficulties that arose by uniting these two Germanys as one.

My works delve into my personal history as with the love letters of my Grandparents. The correspondence reflected not only their longing but gave an eye-witness account in the 1930s of my present home, Miami Beach. By presenting these letters as audio in conjunction with images from the era depicted in a 1930 Ford, „Time Machine“ provided the viewer a sense of the time and place as well as the feelings that were being described. Although written some 70 years ago, the context of the car brought these letters to life and enabled one to see that not so much has changed as they might have imagined.

Another topic that I also probe is personal struggle. In my last two projects, „Around the World in a N.Y.C. Taxi“ and the "Border Cruiser,“ I presented the story of immigrants who come to the United States with the hope to improve the quality of life for their families and themselves. The cars are used as settings but also give a context to present their stories. The projection inside of the vehicles captures the audience attention to enter into immigrants’ world, so that they may identify with these individuals and their aspirations.

Thus, I aim to create unique, large-scale, conceptually based, works that infuse my knowledge, experience, and interests to captivate the viewer to investigate themes of personal struggle and identity.