Selected Works, Florida Southern College, 2013

These works were created during my undergraduate studies at Florida Southern College and reflect an early engagement with landscape as a site of inquiry rather than depiction. During this period, my interests were shaped by the work of J. M. W. Turner, the ideals of the Enlightenment, and the American Hudson River School, particularly their shared concern with light, atmosphere, and the human relationship to nature.

I was drawn to Turner’s treatment of light and dissolution, where form gives way to sensation, as well as the Enlightenment’s emphasis on observation, reason, and the pursuit of knowledge through direct experience. The Hudson River School’s vision of landscape as both physical and spiritual territory further informed my approach, presenting nature as a space of awe, scale, and reflection rather than mere scenery.

The selected works explore these ideas through studies of space, tonal shifts, and evolving surface. Rather than replicating historical styles, I used these influences as a framework for experimentation, testing how atmosphere, movement, and light could carry meaning. The work moves between structure and ambiguity, reflecting an early attempt to balance control with intuition.

Created within an academic setting that emphasized rigorous critique and technical foundation, these pieces document a formative stage in my practice. While distinct from my current work, they reveal the roots of a continued inquiry into place, perception, and the translation of experience into visual form.

This body of work is presented as a historical record of learning and influence, offering context for the evolution of my studio practice and the philosophical foundations that continue to shape it.