How Can I Know?
watercolor pencil and oil pastel on canvas. 2023.
a self portrait created at a time of emotional discontent and confusion, a time when i could not seem to figure out what i needed my life to be.
Sink or Swim
steel. 2024.
articulated fish headpiece made from hammered steel treated with black magic patina. inspired by japanese samurai helmets. entirely riveted, so the tail flops back and forth, and even the fins and gills move.
Favorite Fish
acrylic, ink, pastel, paper collage on canvas. 2022.
Favorite Fish II
acrylic, watercolor, colored pencil, pastel on canvas. 2025.
portrait of my (at the time) long term partner. he is a pisces, and i always admired his ability to see the grand scheme of things while still being able to go with the flow.
World in My Eyes
watercolor, oil pastel, colored pencil on canvas. 2025.
this piece is a self portrait– a representation of concepts through my eyes using exclusively color to represent them. from left to right, the stripes depict the colors of: art, my childhood, memories, anger, friendship, power, failure, success, hope, faith, sensory pleasure, love, death, birth, dreams, night, day, my skin, my eyes, and my hair.
Rorrim
watercolor, colored pencil, acrylic, pastel on canvas. 2024.
who are we? how can we ever truly know? the reflection of us in a mirror, or screen is simply a manipulation of light. who are we really?
Sansara
acrylic, oil pastel, colored pencil, silkscreen on canvas. 2025.
this self portrait was painted shortly after I broke up with my partner of 6 years. for the first time in a long time, i had to become completely independent. i could look only to myself when i needed help and found myself slowly figuring out how to be alone. the text is the lyrics of a russian (part of my ethnicity) song by Basta titled "Sansara," which is about the endless cycle of existence. through this piece, i wanted to assure myself that life does indeed go on, and i am the only one i truly need in it.
If I Lead
ceramics. 2025.
this is a self portrait vase inspired by two of my favorite artists: Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt. the text printed into the piece is the chorus of the song "If I Lead" by Kiltro, signifying how Klimt and Schiele are leading me on my artistic journey. it is a coil pot that utilizes the sgraffito technique and underglaze painting with some glaze work.
Tantra
soft-ground etching. 2024.
Joanna
colored pencil and pastel on cardboard sheet. 2023.
a study of my good friend joanna, drawn from life one late night.
Microcosm
hard-ground etching. 2024.
Gabby
oil pastel and colored pencil on canvas. 2023.
a quick study of my dear friend gabby, done from life.
Great Barren Reef
ceramics. 2025.
a hand-built ceramics piece that comments on the pollution of our oceans and the consequent destruction of coral reefs. the urchins were thrown on the wheel, off the hump.
Down To The Waterline
five layer reduction woodcut print. 2024.
Seaing is Believing
screenprint and oil on canvas. 2025.
Just Keep Swimming
screenprint. 2023.
Round and Round
hard-ground etching. 2024.
Fishing for Thought
paper, cardboard, fishing twine. 2023.
inspired by baroque wigs, this is an interactive headpiece that can be manipulated by the wearer.
The Secret History
screenprint, oil, digital print on canvas. 2025.
this vanitas painting is inspired by Donna Tart's "The Secret History," featuring quotes from the book itself. when thinking about the themes of a vanitas, the group of entitled greek students from this book instantly came to mind. the book explores their obsession with beauty and willingness to kill under the guise of furthering their own lives. simultaneously, their study of greek made me think about ancient greece and its relationship to life and death. the ruins of it remain visited by millions of people every year, all marveling over its beauty. and yet, this beauty wasn't enough to make the civilization truly last forever. the ruins in the background are screenprints of photos I took last summer on my trip to greece. the organic shapes painted on top are parts of a vanitas painting I did in highschool and physically manipulated while scanning this earlier painting. the recycling of my old work alludes to our inability to avoid death, but constant attempts to try.
Aphrodite
graphite on paper. 2022.
slow contour drawing done entirely from observation.
Vova
watercolor and ink on paper. 2022.
Leo
woodcut print. 2024.
Courbet: After Lucero
ceramics. 2025.
part of a series inspired by Michael Lucero, this pot was thrown on the wheel and combines elements of my slavic heritage, futuristic motifs, and depictions of my favorite artworks: in this case featuring a detail from Gustave Courbet's "Woman with a Parrot."
Rubens: After Lucero
ceramics. 2025.
part of a series inspired by Michael Lucero, this pot was thrown on the wheel and combines elements of my slavic heritage, futuristic motifs, and depictions of my favorite artworks: in this case featuring a detail from Peter Paul Rubens' "Fall of the Damned."
Look Up
textile. 2021.
Open Up
acrylic, watercolor, oil pastel on canvas. 2021.
my highschool senior self portrait. the title refers to the opening up of my "third eye", which you can faintly see in the center of my forehead. it represents my growth throughout high school and the pandemic. during the past few years, changes in my body, my environment, and the world around me have shaped me into the person i am today- someone full of color who is finally emerging from the shadows.
Shto?
ceramics. 2025.
Azulejos Of My Childhood
clay and acrylic. 2021.
azulejos are the traditional ceramic tiles that can be seen all over portugal and originated in spain, inspired by local flora and fauna. this is a collection of tiles that reflects my childhood and my love of traveling. first, I made clay stamps using a combination of reductive and additive techniques to create plants and animals that I associate with being a kid. i have lived by the beach since i was two, so i designed stamps of fish, seaweed, coral, bubbles, and even a starfish. the second biggest influence in my childhood was my summer camp in upstate new york. i chose to make the rest of my stamps representative of the flora and fauna that I saw there- bunnies, moths, flowers, birds, ferns, and mushrooms. i then used the dried stamps to create reliefs in the tiles. to paint them, i used colors that felt more natural to me- orange, maroon, blues (like the ocean), greens (like the forests of upstate), and a warm yellow, instead of the classic portuguese palette.
Bug Me
acrylic on wood. 2022.
Natalie Messerschmidt
ceramics and acrylic. 2020.
This sculpture is a self portrait bust based on the work of the artist Franz Xaver Messerschmidt. In the Roman Republic, busts of patricians were often over-exaggerated with wrinkles to show the wisdom and maturity of their subjects. Messerschmidt, whose style is often viewed as neoclassical, chooses instead to use wrinkles for depictions of exaggerated grimaces and grins. my bust is an ode to Messerschmidt's ability to confidently portray his own personal demons while still alluding to the wise style of sculpture from the Roman Republic. it toes the fine line between maturity and madness.