Artist Statement
For me, aesthetics are deeply important and useful. As a filmmaker, I work across mediums (documentary, narrative and new media) to tell emotional and aesthetically evocative stories around themes of queerness and transness, otherness, hybridity, and futurity. My work ranges from archival to more fluid and experimental. I like visually portraying the internal state and mood of my characters, depicting their imaginary and inner worlds. I create fantasy sequences out of documentary footage in order to explore their depths, and visualize the things they think or dream. Documentary is about perspective and interpretation, and my work reflects that. I like to push the box aesthetically, whether that means shooting in infrared (as in my series Braddock, PA), constructing fantasy sequences from doc footage or utilizing VHS footage and embracing a deeply campy aesthetic (for my project We Are Pat). Each project begs for a new visual approach and I love finding the one that best suits the narrative at hand. If I had to distill the visual quality of my work to one word, I would say liquid. I want it to feel fluid and naturalistic, as if you are bathing in the world. Some of my inspirations come from the natural world, the films of Pedro Costa and Claire Denis, and photographers like Graciela Iturbide and Alex Webb.
We Are Pat is a feature length hybrid documentary exploring the evolution of gender identity, the bounds of humor, cancel culture, and a creator’s responsibility to their work through the lens of the iconic SNL sketch It’s Pat. Trans and non-binary comedians and culture-makers reimagine and rewrite the original Pat sketches, using camp and humor to reclaim and re-envision a character that has historically maligned the community. It is currently in production.