Artist Statement
As a digital media artist, I create interactive 3D spaces and simulations inviting and provoking a range of stories and emotions from the viewer. I typically explore perception, connection, and emotion via the ongoing use of an avatar (Tatsuo) as a proxy for myself. As someone who struggles to be openly vulnerable to the people around me, my avatar allows me to fully express myself without fully being plugged into the equation. Avatars can also work to encourage others to be vulnerable and share their stories and feelings in a potentially safer environment.
I enjoy exploring communication and identity and the ways in which different people identify themselves in virtual space as opposed to physical space. Virtual space can become an outlet for people to fully express themselves more and to also become someone they may struggle to be in the real world. In virtual space people are free to control how they represent themselves and free to decide what community they reside in.
