A New Emphasis on Patterns and Symbols
Updated: Sep 17
Legacy Code marks a new creative direction. It reflects a deeper understanding of the symbolic nature of my work, how images arrive in my process, and my motivations for creating art in the first place.
This piece emerged on the heels of seven transitional drawings I created through the winter and early spring – a series where my thinking and creative approach shifted in several key areas. In many ways, Legacy Code feels like the first meaningful step into the art I've always wanted to make, but until recently, I didn't know and trust myself enough to make.
The Creative Process for Legacy Code
Last winter, I experienced a personal shift that altered my sense of identity. This shift in me immediately began a ripple effect in my art, but it wasn't until Legacy Code that the ideas I'd been exploring coalesced into something distinct from my past work.
I'd specifically gained greater clarity about how images arrive in my work: I settle into a relaxed state where I can access shapes and symbols from my unconscious mind that represent my emotions, beliefs, and current life challenges. An image usually appears almost fully formed, and I often know quite quickly what it reflects in my real life. The work is to then pull each symbol through the fog of this waking dream state, channeling it into something more precise as I draw.
For Legacy Code, I was still carrying the experience of my transformative winter, and it heavily informed the imagery: I was inspired by the sense that our actions and motivations are affected by early-life survival strategies that prevent us from connecting with our true nature, and the ways that inter-generational harm is inflicted despite well-intentioned sacrifices.
A Shift in Space and Form
Creatively, I was open to visual influences in a way I hadn't been before – I suddenly felt drawn to the symbolic storytelling of Mesoamerican murals, the mesmerizing flow of lines in circuit boards, and the beautiful openness of the negative space in Aubrey Beardsley drawings.
These no longer felt unrelated to the art I wanted to make – they were exciting elements to learn from and incorporate into the structure of my own creations.
I fully let go of the perspective drawing and three-dimensional space I embraced a year ago, allowing space to flatten, compress, and hold form in new ways.
This new direction feels like the conclusion of a long arc in my work, from the drawings I made in my teens and 20s – claustrophobic images where figures fight for two-dimensional space in a dense interplay of images – to fully realized three-dimensional worlds. Now, the approach is shifting to an integrated style where content doesn't need literal definition, and recognizable forms exist alongside abstract shapes and patterns.
I've worked out an early color palette for Legacy Code, and I'm currently exploring a method to transfer the digital drawing onto wood panel and complete the piece with acrylic paint and India ink. I made a small venture into painting a year ago, and that early effort clarified a better path into analog media that protects the aspects of my art I value most.
I'm motivated to find a way to maintain the flexibility of my digital drawing process while producing a physical art piece for display, and I have a method lined up that I believe will take me there. I'll share the results of those efforts once they're ready.
I post process videos, sketches, and behind-the-scenes work as new art takes shape. If you'd like to see the next stages of this world as it's built, you can find me here:
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