There’s tons of documentation of the beauty our modern world has, but little of our technological advancements would exist if not for the dirty, soulless infrastructure that holds up human achievement. For this reason, I have chosen to use industrial machines and vessels as the subject of my etchings. These tools are brilliant human achievements in engineering, but to us, they are antagonists to creation and creativity, being anything but beautiful. Whether it be the pollution they cause or the connection they fundamental ties to commercialism, no one would look at an oil rig fondly – but I do. I attempt to capture the industry of machines and structures that were never made for presentation. Oil wells and rigs weren’t designed for their appearance; rather, they’re made to most efficiently perform their intended task. Yet, regardless of their objections, presenting them fascinates me. Every tree, rock, and landscape created by mother nature develops to be different from its peers, but each iteration of an industrial machine model is painstakingly made to be the same. This is why printmaking interests me; monotonous editions mirror the subjects of the prints. Many of my prints can and do go side by side, forming patterns and tidy arrangements like their real-world counterparts. Through this, I can create larger structures out of multiple parts, guaranteeing consistent repetition. But while these machines are made to have perfect lines, I battle against plexiglass to do the same. Carving into the plate is unwieldy, and I often don’t get the perfect markmaking I want, but I’ve come to prefer it this way. The rough, expressive line quality that compose the subjects is my own human struggle to portray the sterile perfection of these machines. The searching lines blueprint the form of the rickety trusses, machined parts, and wrought iron, abstractly and messily depicting what should be flawlessly machined. To emphasize shadows and grime, I smudge and smear my plates with ink by strategically concentrating on specific areas more than others during my plate cleaning phase. Through this choice, I hope to add the motion and dynamism that the subjects lack. Whether it be the frothing turmoil of inky black seas beneath an oil rig, the dark waves that crash against a massive container ship, or the slick crude oil that dirties a well—while my etching stays the same between multiple prints, the ink smears do not. I’m captivated by the balance between industry’s harms and benefits, what it creates and what it destroys. As someone who cherishes the human role as creator, I think it’s critical to explore the contradictions and philosophy of what we create. I hope my works can spark that same interest. Is our industry a technological marvel? Or should it be antagonized?