ARTIST STATEMENT I always felt as though I was at odds with the way humans interacted with our world. I felt as though its bountiful resources were taken for granted, its organic freedom replaced by manipulated barriers and calculated angles. With our dependence on technology, I felt our connection with nature waning even more. But then I opened my eyes and chose to see the beauty in the contrast, the intention of progress fueling our actions and my faith returned, optimistic for a day of true symbiosis and positive evolution. My work celebrates this contrast of Earth and man, natural and synthetic, adolescence and adulthood. My medium, acrylic (Lucite), represents a blank slate, as clear as water, as close to nothing as possible; upon a closer look, this clear plastic has the ability to turn intangible transparency into a tactile substance. Its translucent colors cast shadows and reflections that transcend its physical presence. The potential in this material allows me to explore my fantastical world of neon plastic flowers and butterflies made of glitter, manifested in form and frozen in time so that unity could not only be experienced but be a presence we can see and touch.