Creating outside of the design space is an essential part of who I am. I could not push a pixel nor manifest any type of visual asset without the ‘mental free-trade zone’ that art-making provides me. In design the idea of “blue sky” tends to be a false narrative — there are always borders involved of some kind: communicative scaffolds and channel-dependent constraints and guidelines that heavily influence projects. When designers ply their craft, it’s important to maintain a metaphorical net under which the ‘trapeze act’ we engage in with clients can have expectations and directions pinned upon. By definition, there is always an audience/spectators attached to design work in some way. Whereas in my art practice the term “blue sky” has me operating without a ’net’, and usually (happily) without spectators. Ideas can catch fire, fizzle out, or smolder without the same consequence. Concepts can simply be gessoed over, wabi-sabi can be embraced, and attempts can crash down and then resurrect at will — all without a Zoom call or an amendment to a ‘scope of work’. I subscribe to the artist Richard Serra’s stated belief that unlike endeavors such as graphic design or architecture, art “is purposely useless”. It is not without impact or consequence, but it can evade labels, it can dip in and out of any other discipline or movement seamlessly without being intrinsic. My practice allows me defiance, it allows me solitude. Ultimately it allows me to process and even laugh at myself and the world around me. The following photos give a fly-by of my work.