Brave New Worlds

2012 - Present

This collection is focused on big concepts and science fiction ideas, although it isn't necessarily restricted to that genre. I am always wanting to capture the hidden and deeply layered realities, and to express my thoughts and feelings through the use of color and texture. It is hard to put to words just exactly what I want to capture, but the title "Brave New Worlds" is a play off of Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel. He uses the phrase ironically, taken from Shakespeare's play The Tempest, which uses it in the same manner. Here I use it as a double irony to show that while this world made have an ugliness that seems unbearable and delights in exploiting the innocent, there is undeniably a beauty and potential just waiting to be beheld and unlocked. I believe it is the artist's job to find it and manifest it through the power of images.

Those Who Seek Life

Inspired by Isaac Asimov's short story "Founding Father", I was not only conveying the ideas expressed through his writing, but my own ruminations on the subject, namely what it means to seek life.

We Were Promised Blossoms

We may not be living in that ideal "Future" that we were all promised, the one that we see in our movies and stories, a world of curiosity, diversity, and brotherhood. However, it does not mean we cannot create beauty today - to perceive those "blossoms" of hope and potential even in the most arid of landscapes.

Tidal

I love exploring new and alien worlds. In this piece I imagined a world with multiple suns and satellites, and all the tidal forces would be pushing and pulling the landscape like the waves of the ocean.

Remembrance

Contemplating beauty within an arid landscape.

美

The title of this piece is the Chinese ideogram of the Japanese word for "beauty", but a beauty that is connected with the idea of sacrifice, as this ideogram is composed of two ideograms, 羊 (sheep) on the top and 大 (great) on the bottom. A sheep is a considered the lowest of animals and has been commonly used for sacrifice in various cultures throughout history. This piece is born out of that complex pool of thoughts, feelings, and ideas, which are also guided by my inspiration from Diane Duane's Star Trek novel Spock's World.

What He Discovered There

I used pencil, colored pencil, and charcoal pencil for this piece. I like to think about what it would be like to travel to other worlds and to see something untouched and infinite in its potential.

Woman

One of my most personal pieces, but it also marks a different approach within my visual vocabulary.

The Blue Spirit

This piece is inspired by Avatar The Last Airbender, most specifically the character of Zuko and his personal struggles.

The Sundering

My exploring some big concepts. All of it rendered in pencil.

Observing Pluto I

When the New Horizons sent us back stunning images of Pluto and tantalizing information about its geography and landscape, I couldn't help but draw my own depictions of what it would be like on Pluto.

Fallom Character Concept

This is a character concept I did of Isaac Asimov's character, Fallom, from his Foundation novel Foundation and Earth.

The Encounter

This piece was inspired by Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, which is one of my favorite films of all time. In the film he explores what it means for mankind to survive and evolve, and so these are my thoughts made visual as to what that means when we wrestle with something larger than ourselves.

Observing Pluto II

Overlooking the dunes of Pluto

Observing Pluto III

Floating over the dunes of Pluto.

Yet Build I Must

An illustration inspired by the character of Spock from Star Trek, but it is also a personal piece reflecting my connection with the character.

An Exchange of Minds

This is a concept piece I did based on the Alien Voice's production of Spock vs Q and Spock vs Q The Sequel, written by Leonard Nimoy and Cecilia Fannon and performed by Leonard Nimoy and John de Lancie.

The Continuum

My exploring the big concepts of the Q Continuum from Star Trek Voyager.

Fourth Watch

"And in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them,

walking on the sea." - Matthew 14:25.

This art piece was my ruminations and ponderings during the COVID19 pandemic and our time in quarantine. It explores isolation, but also the approaching hope that we can find in those quiet places.