"Frances, Still They Come" Collage

I was born blue with my umbilical cord wrapped around my neck. I grew up in rural Southern Illinois with no exposure to fine art. As a child, i drew on everything and made assemblages from bones and objects found in the woods or junk piles. At the age of 12, I died during surgery for a burst appendix and was revived and released, only to be hospitalized again for sepsis and two follow-up surgeries. The recovery and subsequent rehabilitation from the major surgeries forced me out of athletic activities and I was allowed to dive even deeper into my obsession with art, film, and music. Those events have forever damaged me and shaped me and mortality has been a reference through all forms of my work as a mixed media artist, my screenwriting, and songwriting. I went to art school, I was in a band that did some things, I have worked in restaurants and swept floors. I am a creator and that is really the only thing I can do with the time I have left.