This January I attended the wonderful Peyton Evans Artist Residency in Key West Florida. This month-long program, awarded by The Studios at Key West was a wonderful global reset to start off 2026.

Key West is a very special place, and the first sign of that is the chickens. If you don’t know, Key West shares its streets with hundreds of wandering feral chickens (known to locals as gypsy chickens). And these aren’t your run of the mill barnyard chickens—they are the descendants of birds brought there by early settlers and Cuban emigres. They are colorful, riotous creatures with boastful tails and plumes. And yes, they do wake you up very early. The birds were a creative entree into day-to-day life in the Conch Republic, a symbol of Key West’s eccentricity and multicultural heritage. As a graphic designer I was immediately drawn to their dramatic and deeply satisfying shape, even getting into the habit of drawing a chicken a day!

My time at Key West was specifically time to get away from screens and get back in touch with using my hands—sadly something I don’t have a lot of time to do. I had brought a few simple design tools: x-acto knife, an assortment of colored paper, compasses, etc. It was an opportunity for me to start work on a new, long-delayed direction in my research, that of making kinetic sculptures and automata. Using materials I was able to find in fishing tackle and hardware stores, and whatever else I could find on the street, I created a number of chicken-based prototypes (which I dubbed chic-o-mats) that I plan to re-build using more durable materials now that I’m back in Baltimore. You can see a sampling of the process and finals below, or go to my new Automata Page to see these machines in motion!

One thing that was great was having time to play. While the first three weeks of my residency were occupied with testing, failing, re-building and succeeding, by the fourth week I was confident and could work very quickly! Sadly, it was also time for me to say goodbye, so I spent the remainder of my time making “mini-matas” as thank-you and parting gifts:

It was a energetic and relaxing month, alternating between solid blocks of concentrated studio time and watching dogs play in the sunset at Dog Beach. Thanks again to TSKW and all the lovely folks in Key West. I hope to be back soon!