Keyhole to Other Dimensions

Main Statement

I’m honored to have been selected as one of 75 Honoraria artists to create my Keyhole sculpture for Burning Man 2026.

The Keyhole is a large-scale sculptural installation designed as a physical threshold. From the front, it reads as a keyhole. From the side, it becomes a key. People can sit within it, look through it, and discover hidden compartments built into the structure. Photography and illustrations wrap around the interior, creating a layered experience that shifts as you move through it. It invites curiosity and a change in perspective, revealing how different dimensions can exist at once.

Burning Man has been an experimental ground for me where I learned to take risks, trust my instincts, and develop my creative voice. It was also a place where I began to come out of my shell. I used to carry a lot of social anxiety, and my camera became a way to connect with people. Over time, through photography, music, and returning year after year, I grew into a more open version of myself.

Over 13 Burns, I have documented life on the playa through photography, while a deeper experience in 2015 planted the seed for my illustration practice, which began to take shape shortly thereafter and has been evolving ever since. In 2025, I shared these surreal and intimate illustrations publicly for the first time through a projection-based art show in New York.

This year marks a shift in my work. I am focusing more deeply on illustration and physical objects, with the Keyhole as a central piece that brings these paths together—a symbol of transformation and exploration. At the same time, I am returning to a more analog approach on the playa, shooting 35mm film to stay present and embrace unpredictability.

Alongside this, I am approaching the playa photo book as an art piece in itself, a way to honor these years and the experiences that have shaped who I am. It draws from years of digital photography, playa notebooks, and gifted fragments, along with over three decades of design practice. It serves as both an artifact and a continuation of the work. I’ve often been told that my photographs feel like you’re there—capturing the rawness, the details, the people, and the energy of the playa.

Together, these projects reflect an ongoing exploration of personal transformation shaped by years of movement through music, style, photography, and illustration, both on and beyond the playa.