What question do you keep coming back to in your arts practice?
“I think a theme/concept I keep coming back to more generally speaking has been the definition of home and how that’s been constantly evolving. I think a few years ago I realized how transient today’s world is and it’s a question that’s stayed with me – What is home?. We’re all a complex venn-diagram of many circles and a lot of that has to do with these different homes we have. Not literal homes but places/activities/life experiences that make us feel at home.”
What discipline, other than your own, do you draw most from?
“I tend to pull mostly from paintings and documentary photography. They go hand in hand in a very unique way. Painting, to me, is an altered reality. The way light behaves in a painting is purely the artist’s imagination and intention. Furthermore, a painter can sit in one place and change the reality in front of them or alter the perspective slightly. On the other hand, documentary photography is very matter-of-fact. What the photographer sees through the lens is what makes a final image. However as a cinematographer, I am able to draw from both. I have to realize the physical limitations of camera placement within a scene, but at the same time I can create light to evoke the emotion a scene needs.”
What do you enjoy most about the process of creating new work and what recurring challenges do you encounter?
“I love the chance to collaborate. As a filmmaker, I love being able to unpack a story with a group of people that are not only able to pull from what’s on the pages of the script, but also what’s unsaid. Often times our ways of interpreting a script or scene can differ and the conversations that arise from that often lead to new questions and new discoveries. Every day of making a film is a challenge, but I think the idea of working with friends to tell a story effectively is incredibly exciting.”
