Where do you source the images used in your work? Do these sources ever direct the finished product?

Sourcing material is one of my favorite parts of making collages. It feels like a treasure hunt, often in a used book store or an estate sale, finding the right texture, the right colors, with the theme or image subject as the afterthought. A book, magazine/publication that piques my interest can inspire a piece, though sometimes I will seek specific imagery out to fulfill a vision. 

Collage is among the plastic arts most readily compared to writing. How does literature or the spoken word interact with your work or its generation? 

Words are often the catalyst for a piece, or at least what gets me in my studio. More than literature, I am inspired by words and phrases from lyrics or advertising. Collage has a rich history with advertising and political propaganda as it flourished in the dada movement and I consider my work in conversation with those lasting and topical forces. Sometimes the words or phrases will find their way into my pieces, or be revealed in the title. 

One of your trademarks is a remarkably exacting approach to composition. How do you play with the composite image before arriving at the finished piece?

One of the draws of collage, for me, is the clean lines. Collecting disparate pieces to create a whole, like a puzzle gives me a satisfying feeling of control. I will often work with it like a puzzle, actually. It could take me 8 hours to arrange the perfect composition, or 20 minutes. 

What circles do you move in or around in the current Chicago art scene? Who/what are the artists/spaces that situate your work into dialogue?

My introduction to Chicago was assisting Tony Fitzpatrick, and has remained largely in and around his studio. It is funny, because our collage styles and techniques are so different, but I have listened to his advice of pushing for "more" compositionally, to think and rethink a piece before I decide it's finished. Though ultimately we stay in our lanes as minimalists and maximalists.