Featured by Basin Arts: Artist Circle Interview
In January 2023, I was honored to be featured by Basin Arts as part of their Artist Circle series, which highlights artists contributing to Acadiana’s creative community.
The interview was published just days before the opening reception for my solo exhibition, The Human Condition, making it an opportunity to reflect on the experiences, relationships, and artistic influences that had shaped my practice leading up to that moment.
The conversation explored the importance of creative community, mentorship, and the role personal experience plays within my work. Looking back, many of the ideas discussed continue to inform my practice today, even as the paintings themselves have evolved.
About the Interview
During the interview, I shared how growing up in rural South Louisiana, studying psychology, and building connections within Acadiana’s arts community all contributed to the development of my artistic voice.
Topics included:
- Building a creative community as an emerging artist
- The importance of mentorship and collaboration
- Using figurative painting to explore the human condition
- Finding connection through vulnerability and shared experience
- The role of local arts organizations in supporting artists
Creative Community
One of the questions focused on the people who make up my “art circle.” While artistic practice often appears solitary, my work has always been supported by an extraordinary network of family, friends, mentors, and fellow artists.
At the time of the interview, I spoke about how welcoming the Lafayette arts community had been during the early years of my career. Organizations such as Basin Arts, Creative Acadiana, and the Acadiana Center for the Arts created opportunities to meet artists, participate in critiques, and learn from those with more experience.
That sense of community continues to shape my practice today. Contemporary art is strengthened through conversation, shared knowledge, and the generosity of artists who invest in one another.
On Building an Artistic Practice
One of my favorite ideas from the interview remains the advice I offered to emerging artists:
“The more love and trust that I invest in our local art scene, the more growth I continue to experience.”
Creative careers rarely develop in isolation. Showing up consistently, participating in exhibitions, attending critiques, and supporting other artists have all been as important to my growth as the hours spent alone in the studio.
Looking Back
Reading this interview today offers an interesting snapshot of my practice at an important moment in its development.
At the time, I described my work as realistic expressionism and discussed my interest in exploring existentialism, dissociation, and the diversity of human experience through the figure. Those ideas remain present, but my work has continued to expand toward broader questions surrounding memory, identity, transformation, and the psychological relationship between people and the natural world.
While the visual language of the paintings continues to evolve, the central motivation has remained remarkably consistent: creating work that encourages reflection and fosters connection through our shared human experience.
Read the Original Interview
The complete Artist Circle interview remains available through Basin Arts and includes additional discussion about my creative influences, artistic process, and experiences within Acadiana’s arts community.
Thank you to Basin Arts for the invitation to participate in the Artist Circle series and for supporting artists throughout the region.
Publication Details
Publication: Basin Arts
Series: Artist Circle
Published: January 12, 2023
Type: Artist Interview
Related: The Human Condition (Solo Exhibition)