THE WABI-SABI PROJECT

Using a diverse array of materials—from canvas and paint to clay, food, paper, and even construction materials—I explore the endless possibilities of mixed media to create art that is both tactile and visually compelling.

I believe that every material has its own story and potential. By integrating unexpected elements, I invite viewers to see the familiar and also themselves in new ways. My process is driven by curiosity and experimentation, embracing the serendipity that comes with combining disparate objects and textures.

Each piece is a dialogue between materials, techniques, emotions, and ideas. Through this eclectic approach, I aim to engage the senses and provoke thought, encouraging viewers to connect with the art on a deeper level and go within.

Guided by the principles of wabi-sabi, I embrace the beauty of imperfection and the transient nature of materials. This approach helps me appreciate the elegance in the imperfect and incomplete, while transforming the mundane into something intriguing. Through this lens, I celebrate the imperfectly perfect, inviting viewers to find beauty in the ephemeral.

About Des

I’ve never been drawn to dolls. My earliest memories are of working with my hands, driven by an endless imagination. I’d dance around the coffee table with a pink umbrella, creating my own songs, or perch on a kitchen stool at age three, cranking out pasta with delight.

Play-dough became my first medium, shaping miniature sculptures—maquettes—of everything I saw around me. Growing up in a family that owned restaurants, I often retreated to the loft above the kitchen between shifts, where my creativity could run wild. I drew cartoons on the backs of old paper bags, adorned bananas with faces, dressed the cats in costumes, and poured nail polish into bowls of water just to watch the colorful swirls float on the surface.

Raised to be polite, I secretly expressed my disdain for certain people by crafting grotesque play-dough sculptures in their likeness. I filled the margins of my school notebooks with sketches of the Pink Panther, using flipbook animation to bring him to life.

These early acts of whimsy and invention shaped a lifelong appreciation for the extraordinary in the everyday—finding beauty and meaning in the simple, the playful, and the unexpected.