These sculptures were created during my MFA studies at FAU from 2022 to 2025. The concept was a reaction to the unjust war against Ukraine by Putin.  It was a response to seeing hospitals, schools, cultural centers, and residential high rises being struck by missiles and or drones, and the mushroom cloud that follows.  The sculptures are a loose interpretation of structure and a mushroom cloud.  

At times, these sculptures become figurative, vessels of memories.  During the process of making, they become very personal, and I reflect on my experience in war and its brutality, and on the innocence caught in the web of war.  However, I hope I have taken that darkness, something I’m familiar with, and created something that sparks curiosity, reflects beauty, and maybe even a bit of splendor.  

Pablo Picasso: "No, painting is not interior decoration. It is an instrument of war for attack and defense against the enemy".

Jonathan Larson (Composer & Playwright): "The opposite of war is not peace: it is creation".