About me
Through photography and handmade items, I explore the inner emotions and conflicts of the human experience by bridging the gap between the fantasies in one’s mind and heart to an entirely new constructed realm of life. This conceptual practice utilizes dynamic lighting and vibrant colors to bring witches, dragons, and magic to an entirely new fantastical realm. Projects often inspect death and yearning as ways to consider when to hold on to, or let go of, something or someone. The works take European mythology, fairy tales, and folklore as sources of inspiration and encourage the world to believe in all that can be.
My work begins when I allow my brain to wander through emotional music, reflections on my past, goals for the future, and what I believe it means to be human. I wonder what the world might be like if anything were possible, specifically in a fantastical sense. As I do this, I sketch concepts and jot down notes on what I see in my head and how to make it real. I consider lighting, colors, posing, settings, character design, who can model to fit my vision, scheduling, necessary materials, how much I will rely on editing vs. real life, time of day, and much more. I create vision boards so my models can picture my concepts as I explain them. After I complete a photoshoot, I take 2-3 weeks to edit and print them out. My work is mainly accessible through online forums such as my website and Instagram, but I also have a collection of artworks at my studio and in private buyers’ collections.
Photography is my main medium of expression because of its capability to bring a vision into the physical world. A work I completed, “A Quest for Permanence” explored what it means when a life-changing connection must end. Rather than simply using models for this concept, I built an adjustable paper mache dragon called Amara, meaning long-lived, completely from scratch and of my design. The story follows a young Amara who travels the world alone until she meets a witch named Ephemera. The series follows the building of their bond and its eventual melancholic end. I used Intense lighting and contrast, vibrant colors, motion, and specific posing to push emotion and enhance a sense of otherworldliness.
“A Fear of Death” is my most recent project which similarly employs magic through a witch, specifically a necromancer. The work investigates the human desire to prevent endings and loss. I used outdoor lights and 4 models to ensure my realm felt full of life and larger than a single character. I was brought to this concept after recognizing several of my projects followed a witch who tried to use their powers to save someone’s life. Buried people are ripped from the earth by the necromancer who refuses to let anyone’s story end due to her own fears of death. The images take place in a wooded area at night, so darkness shrouds the environment. Deep purple and green lighting bridge the worlds of life and death, dark and light, fear and wonder, to elicit raw emotion from viewers.
My accessible realm pushes viewers and participants to free their souls, even temporarily, from what “should be” and believe in the mystics of what could be. Viewers should feel a strong emotional bond to my work that encourages them to reflect on their own lives from a new perspective.
Education
| 2025 | BFA(pending), Studio Art, Photography, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (expected May 2028) |
Awards/Grants/Fellowships (Honors/Scholarships/Residencies, etc.)
| 2024 | Merit Based Scholarship, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL |
Exhibition Record
| 2026 | Group Exhibition, First Year Exhibition, Kayla Becker, for Photography, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL |
Commissions
| 2026 | Private Art Commission, Portraiture, digital photography, Chicago, IL |
| 2026 | Private Art Commission, Portraiture, digital photography, Chicago, IL |
| 2026 | Private Art Commission, Portraiture, digital photography, Chicago, IL |
| 2026 | Private Art Commission, Bear and Boy, whittled wood carvings, Chicago, IL |
| 2026 | Private Art Commission, Fox, whittled wood carving, Chicago, IL |
| 2026 | Private Art Commission, Dog, whittled wood carving, Chicago, IL |
| 2026 | Private Art Commission, Bear and Fox, whittled wood carvings, Chicago, IL |