Art Statement

Water is a mirror. Sometimes clean and sparkling, sometimes covered in generations of dust and debris, it shows us not only who we are but where it has been. Our own walls, be they physical, emotional, spiritual or cultural, often shield us from the world outside of our comforts and luxuries. Our walls force out anything which may upset the delicately arranged apple cart of our daily existence. Our walls protect us from the very same punishments they inflict on others.

In the murky waters of a steaming river, we saw no greater reflection of who we are than in the loss of a brave father and child, fighting against impossible forces to breathe free. We built our own walls even taller.

But we must see our reflection. We must face down our own sins. We must shed our walls. What we see in the mirror is our own horror, reflecting in the giant eye of the city perpetuating our crimes. A mirror more famous than perhaps any other in our nation, and in the face of those who need the reflection the most.

Artist Biography

My home is in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, in Eastern Kentucky. Born in the coalfields of West Virginia, I relocated here many years ago and have found a place and a peace unlike any other within the confines of the hills and the comfort of the culture. To many, we are a stereotype. We exist as backwoods, uneducated swine rooting about in the world’s garden for a morsel of what may fall our way. But to see only that is to overlook the character and culture built on the backs of hundreds of years of life in one of the toughest places in the United States.

Eight of the poorest counties in the nation are my neighbors. The interstates don’t run through our part of the country very well. Our land, our jobs, and our very souls have been bought and sold by robber baron coal and oil barons, torn to shreds and left to die on the vine. Yet, we persist. In the face of adversity, we continue to give birth to art, music, poetry, literature and a world often kept all to ourselves. But we do not fit into one box. We are as varied in viewpoints and experiences as any place in America, and our culture is rich. That is who I am. I am one of many, but the many have undeniably shaped the one.