I create surreal watercolor drawings of bivalves and abalone shells, populated by hidden figures and creatures, and translate them into cast-glass sculptures. By painting, layering, and fusing cut sheets of glass, I transform these images into luminous, solid forms that capture the complex textures of flesh and shell in crystallized form. My glass oysters celebrate these remarkable creatures' ecological importance and their enduring place in coastal cultures, including those of New York.

Following my father’s death in 2024, my work has also become a meditation on loss, beauty, and healing. My father first showed me an empty abalone shell, and it became a vessel for exploring grief and transformation. Drawing on the shell’s extraordinary colors and its associations with healing, peace, and spiritual growth in Pacific Indigenous cultures, I use glass to give tangible form to the fragile, often contradictory weight of mourning. Through this work, I seek a path toward renewal: as a son grieving his father and as a husband and father learning to grow in his absence.