Balloon twisting, which was a common form of busking and community outreach in the cult, provided a valuable avenue of financial stability for our family as we established ourselves apart from the group. I first learned the art of balloons from my parents at the age of sixteen and within weeks I had mastered their designs. Luckily there was a thriving balloon community on YouTube to push me further. From 2012 to 2019 I twisted at birthday parties, restaurants, parades, festivals; all the places you’d expect to find balloons. I began processing my emotions through balloon art in 2019, first with The Entertainer, dealing with my depression and loneliness, and Memories, which expressed the grief of losing my older sister.

The pandemic changed everything in 2020. My livelihood disappeared in the blink of an eye. The personal and societal turmoil saddled me with a whole new set of issues to work through, with all the time in the world to experiment. In 2021 I decided to recreate some of my favorite art in balloons as a way of learning composition and lighting. The positive reception for my balloon version of Fransisco Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son was a turning point for me. I decided to embrace the dark artistic sensibilities that I’d always repressed for fear of damaging my family friendly brand. Shedding those limitations gave me the freedom to find my artistic voice and the inspiration to approach the medium in a brand new way.

The reputation I gained with this new creative output granted me the opportunity to begin teaching at various balloon artist conventions around the country. First at Kapitol Kidvention in DC, then at Twist and Shout in Los Angeles. Hardy and Nance Studios gave me the chance to achieve my first major milestone with a groundbreaking balloon art installation as part of Houston ARTCRAWL 2023. My next large exhibit was “Out Of The Strong, Something Sweet”, hosted at The Jung Center August 19th-24th 2024. It featured two 6ftx7ft paintings and a greusome centerpiece balloon scupture, all enveloped in a balloon envirnoment of balloon dog honeycombs. The exhibition told the story of my upbringing in the cult, and the difficult task of parsing the good from the bad.

I could never have imagined where I’d be several years ago. The future seems just as mysterious, but full of adventure, art, and plenty of balloons.