I have been an artist my entire life, and to anybody I grew up with, it’d come as no surprise that I’ve continued to make art. What may surprise them is the fact that most of my art now has a religious theme. My mother was a devout Jehovah’s Witness and when I was a year old, she refused a necessary blood transfusion on religious grounds. This medical decision was based on her religious sect’s particular interpretation of Biblical scripture and ultimately led to her death. I would go on to be raised by my older sister.

Growing up, I had a distaste for organized religion and specifically Christianity. It wasn’t until college that I began studying philosophy and came face-to-face with religion in a serious manner. I initially took an interest in philosophy for cynical reasons, thinking it’d put me in better standing to demean religious people and their beliefs. However, in immersing myself in philosophy, I came to see how superficial my preconceived notions were and just how much of my worldview up to that point stemmed from misplaced anger.

I am eternally grateful to a handful of professors I met along my undergrad journey, from whom I adopted an intellectual rigor that was absent in the angry, young man I was. It was through my education in the university that I was able to fundamentally shift the study of philosophy away from things as they relate to me and towards things as they are.

After graduating with a degree in religious philosophy, I began genuine religious practice and am now a Pure Land Buddhist. While studying the world religions, I fell in love with the art and knew this is where my next chapter as an artist had to lead. I have made the decision that I will produce religious icons for the rest of my life. Although my heart is in the Buddhist depictions, I have no apprehensions of working with any religious subject matter. My previous understanding of religious belief was negative particularly because it was shallow. My hope is that my artwork can inspire others to see the depth and beauty of all the faith traditions, a revelation that has fundamentally transformed me for the better. Namu Amida Butsu.