My Artistic Statement
I entered the world of scenic art and theatrical productions in an unusual way different from most. During my first year of college I switched to art out of a burning desire to not let my creative urges die in a job that did not make use of them. I thoroughly enjoyed my time as an art major, but at the suggestion of a sculpture professor, who noticed my interest in making wearable pieces, I decided to check out the theatre program offered by my school. Despite my lack of any previous experience or particular interest in stage plays, I quickly fell in love with the collaborative nature of putting on a theatrical production. Beyond the group effort I also discovered an infatuation with the idea of creating a world that draws the audience in. While in theatre classes I found I enjoyed set painting and scenic art and served as paint charge in multiple productions. Parallel to this, I also landed a job at Netherworld Haunted House working in their costume department. This solidified my love for immersive experiences a step beyond that of a traditional stage play. I worked my way up to working in Netherworld’s costume shop during the off season preparing costumes and props for each new season finding the kinds of projects I really love.
Some Projects I am proud of:
My first big project I took the lead on was being the paint charge for The Gainesville Theatre Alliance’s production of Roger and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. They decided to theme the set in a steampunk aesthetic which I found very fun and interesting to work with. The set was almost entirely painted with various metallics ranging from bronze to silver with a fair bit of weathering and grime especially on the suspended gears, something that I consider my strongest specialty. To this day I love working with metallic paints and I credit this set for initiating that connection for me.
While these gloves might not look as big or impressive as the above set, I am still very proud of them. These are a pair of “claw” gloves I came up with inspired by seeing the clack gloves with small resin claws used by some haunters. I designed them with use in a haunted house in mind. Using EVA foam for the claws themselves they are soft enough not to injure guests in case of an unfortunate collision. They are coated and shaped in such a way to both look like they move faster than they should to maximize shock scares and yet still have the durability to survive use by rowdy actors. All of this while being easy enough to replicate that I have been able to turn out many pairs for use at my current haunt. This pair pictured here was recently used in a promotional photoshoot to promote the 2025 Netherworld themes.