[ flint sparks ]
I'm at the end of my road.
I don't know the real answers for these questions.
I don't have faith anymore and I want to
find my way back.
[ somber piano music ]
The reason why this is so important to me,
the reason why I need to do the things I do is because I'm...
I'm desperate.
I've been sculpting ever since 2017.
My first piece was actually dedicated to my Navy family.
It was called "Vessel 49":
named after of the ship that I was
stationed in and it was about
masculinity and how we use it as a
shroud to...to hide our...hide our fears
and problems emotional struggles that we
were dealing with during the time we
were stationed overseas and and the
figures are contorted in pain a showing
physical pain
There was a pain inside that I never
acknowledged and making this peace,
it revealed it in its completeness and it
was horrifying and beautiful.
Mizzou has helped me tremendously the staff at
Mizzou -- the professors -- they all
challenged me to really chase after
every avenue.
It allowed me to be honest with myself.
It allowed me to ask these
questions.
It is going to be my first solo show and it's horrifying because
I don't know how people are gonna respond to it
and that is frightening.
What people need to know when they see my
show is that they need to they need to
be comfortable with the level of honesty.
They need to understand that my work is
about the truth. The absolute truth.
It hurts sometimes that's that's what you
need to know.
You need to brace yourself for that.
