Artist Statement Since the beginning, the American dream has been to own property in order to provide for one's family. Just as Native land was overtaken by the quest for the frontier, the dreams of a once agrarian nation have been paved over by the need to house those in search of new frontiers to claim as their own. In the 21st century, at the frontier, the urban and rural do not meet; they collide. My family has farmed the same land outside of Phoenix, Arizona for four generations and it will soon be developed. My art practice recounts my reactions to the changes in such landscapes, while also representing my attempts to reconcile the urban with the rural in times where many historical and cultural practices are in danger of being engulfed.