worker, inc

I am a provocateur. I explore human connections to the landscape and bridge the theories and practices of social sciences, urban design, architecture, and art. I question assumed cultural constructions. I embrace the fact that the urban is a place of passion and conflict. I recognize the poetics, if not elitism, in architecture. I use art to create new rules and paradigms. I attempt to create new understandings of hierarchy, authority, privacy, and the public through art and architecture.

I install exhibits that request information and participation from the general public regarding the relationship between culture and the designed environment. I use digital graphics, hand drawings, sculpture, text, photography, video, forms, surveys, and games to interact with the public. I do this alone and through collaborations with colleagues and university students. Since 2009, 11 exhibits have been held in vacant interior spaces in downtown Tucson. They have been funded by the artists, the Kresge Foundation, Tucson Pima Arts Council, University of Arizona, and private individuals.

I disseminate information through publications, pamphlets, and other kinds of ephemera. I do not use normal sources of distribution, but create events for the publications, hand them out to people, or leave them amongst the ephemera in public libraries, national parks, and convenience stores. The Museum of Contemporary Art-Tucson, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in Fine Arts, and the Tucson Pima Arts Council have funded the products, Field Guides and Checklists, cake, and Guess That Intersection: Tucson Arizona, respectively.

I use humor and various constructions of identity to mask the seriousness of the subject matter, suspend reality, and promote interaction.

I am a relationship builder. I bring city officials, developers, activists, and the general public together to discuss contentious themes without anger and bitterness.

I enjoy it.

I began, and continue, this work as an architect. I have over 15 years of experience as a professional architect. I was the Architect-in-Residence at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tucson and practiced architecture with BWS Architects, Ibarra Rosano Design Architects, and Rob Paulus Architects. I design restaurants, apartments, zoos, and jails. My work has received awards from the American Institute of Architects, Sunset Magazine, the American Concrete Institute, Arizona Society of Landscape Architects, Metropolitan Pima Alliance, Custom Home Magazine, the Tucson Pima County Historic Commission, and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

Visual art has always been a thread throughout the work. Drawing and collage are my main means of visual communication. The collage work has been featured at Tucson galleries and the Museum of Contemporary Art-Tucson. My drawings are found in The New Yorker, The Lumpen Times, architectural publications, independent publications, and ephemera produced by businesses and non-profit organizations.

I also teach. I am a Lecturer at the School of Architecture, the Honors College, and the Department of Geography and Regional Development at the University of Arizona.

For more information, text resume or graphic resume.