After eight weeks as the inaugural Artist-in-Residence at Laguna Lab, I'm excited to share Eight Seconds / Eight Weeks, an exhibition of paintings created entirely during the residency. Inspired by the landscapes and communities of Sonoma County, the work explores the American West as both lived experience and metaphor.

The title of the exhibition draws a parallel between the eight-second ride of a bull rider and the duration of the eight-week residency program. The resulting paintings developed as a poetic comparison between bull riding and maintaining a painting practice. The uncertain and unpredictable nature of creating a painting demands instinct, risk-taking, and perseverance in order to “ride the bull” without being bucked off.

Alongside completed paintings, the exhibition includes works in progress, offering a glimpse into the evolving process behind the finished works and inviting viewers to experience painting not only as a final resting image, but as an ongoing site of exploration and discovery.