“If faces were different when lit from above or below-what was a face? What was anything?”

-William Golding Lord of the Flies

 

Throughout my youth, I was drawn to art and literature. I loved how immersive good writing could be and when I experienced great art, I was fascinated by how viscerally I could be affected by the flow of a line, the boldness of a color, or the profundity of an image. Inevitably, this led me to the Theatre, where I not only discovered the deep satisfaction of collaborative creation, but also the existence of the art of Lighting. I was fortunate to have opportunities throughout high school and on in to community college to play, experiment, and learn this exciting new medium. It became clear to me that this was something I wanted to follow as far as it would take me.

My love of light, art, and theatre led me to pursue an education in Performance Production at Cornish College of the Arts, where I was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts. It was there that I learned the finer points of text analysis and design, and was able to work with other artists similarly moved by the magic of creating new worlds for the stage. I was also given my first opportunity to light dance, which was the beginning of a love affair that persists to this day.

Upon graduating, I spent a year on the east coast running light boards and learning from Tony award winning designers before returning to Seattle to build my career in earnest. Since returning I have worked in the events industry, designing for weddings and parties, programming large concert rigs, and supporting conferences. I have also spent years in the circus community, exploring the challenges and excitement of lighting for aerial and other circus arts.

I enjoy creating environments; new realities for people to feel and explore be it a play, dance piece, circus show, party, or art installation. It is my job and my joy to use light to manipulate reality for my audience.