I am a self-taught visual artist, working with paper I collect from damaged and discarded books and periodicals to make large scale collages. I begin with a sketch or underpainting, which I collage over, exploring the tension between absence and presence, and the paradox of emptiness within excess.

Ephemera can resurrect an age-old character and argot, showing style through visual vernacular. I scavenge for paper from particular eras for their softness, finish, or even the feelings I have handling them. I don’t live in their past, they inhabit my present. Spectral personalities and forms born from the content, inscriptions and marginalia often populate my process.