Growing up, my family provided me with unique exposure to art from around the world. From South African art and jazz to Renaissance paintings, to the beautiful nature of North Vancouver, I saw art everywhere I looked. I was born in Cape Town, South Africa, but I was raised in Vancouver, Canada. Although I have spent most of my life in North America, my roots are in South Africa and Italy. The diverse art education I received as a child has provided me with a unique artist’s voice that allows me to notice the unusual and the surreal. My trained eyes see many things that others cannot. I create story out of bits and pieces, turning scraps into a quilted rug of my own imagination. I am a photographer and an artist who fictionalizes reality, revealing my stories so that the audience can create their own.

I have always had a unique empathy for others. I am finely attuned to people’s wants and needs, hyperaware of the people in my immediate surroundings. Having taken a journey of self-discovery early in life, I have come to have a deep and undying passion for psychology and philosophy, especially in the psychology of desire. My current research is to understand peoples wants when it comes to visual stimulation in the art world and the commercial advertising world. I see myself as more than just a camera technician but an interpreter of desire and a provider of story, fuel to spark the machine of imagination.

The tools I am drawn to the most are colour, texture and movement. I am drawn to a moodiness that often leads to a feeling of potential danger, the calm before a storm, or an intense quiet. In my product work, I imbue a feeling of intense clarity, arising from palpable textures. I also use my innate empathy to understand the products I photograph. This allows me to view them as a subject in the same way I view the people I photograph. The inert objects seem to animate themselves through the frame with intention, claiming their right as the central focus.

In my portrait and fashion work I also use my strong empathic senses. I record an interpretation of the subject’s aura. In doing so, their energetic 'bodies' enter the tangible visual space of the photograph. For me this tells the ‘truth’ stronger than a simple portrait because it is interpreting what is inside of someone, an energy that the naked eye cannot perceive. In all my images, I dig deeper than what visible realism has to offer. This allows me to create mind-bending realities of surreal colours and textures.

The most important quality in this industry is being a good team player. And the good news is that I love being one! In this creative field, being able to understand your role and take up the space that has been given to you is of paramount importance. This is where my empathy comes in. Understanding human desire is what makes me so good at what I do, this goes hand in hand with being able to read people and their needs. In group settings, I offer a supportive role for others to shine but when it is my time to step up to the plate, I will take responsibility and do what needs to be done