My work explores curiosities of human existence through investigation of complexities of global citizenship, the subversive influence of cultural background, and our relationships with science, nature, and each other.  It maps threads of thought.  As a multi-media artist, I use materials including bronze and steel, wood, natural and synthetic fibers, found objects, and paint to create these maps.  I aim to create intimate works that serve as visual and tactile embodiments of our common states of societal existence, from disenchantment or oppression to inspiration and amusement.  I hope to inspire new relational or introspective connections for the viewer, through table-top and wall relief sculpture, assemblage, installation, tapestry, and painting.

 

My focus is threefold:  environmental and cultural advocacy, narration of journeys out of social confinement/conformity (of dress, speech, behavior, opinion, etc.), and exploration of pattern: either found inherently in nature, or conceptually created to represent music or scientific processes.  Each piece and its conceptual investigation inform my choice of materials and process.  For example, a tapestry, representing an aerial view of an oil spill, was composed entirely using petroleum- based materials (trash bags, rubber bands, synthetic rope, fishing line).  The work urges viewers to consider ways they might be participating in oil-dependent processes that harm the environment.  In contrast, many of my bronze works depict a female figure acting contrary to conformity, by climbing a rocky hill to take the non-expectant path, or escaping a cage to disavow “the flock”.  

 

Most recently, my painting, metal, and fiber work explores pattern as an expression of music, scientific processes, or natural phenomena.  Pattern is connected to sonic or visual rhythm, providing a soothing sense of order and predictability, to contrast the chaos that sometimes surrounds us.  Patterns are embedded in nearly every type of scientific or natural phenomenon (DNA, mathematics, aerial views of landscapes, the branching of a tree…), and discovery of these patterns inspires investigation and informs this work.

 

It is my belief that art serves as a voice for the unheard, a call to action toward a better society, and a challenge to the status-quo.  I aim to meaningfully contribute to this vital means of community engagement in my own way, offering education, provocation, comfort, familiarity, or even a space for whimsy.   Ultimately, I hope to provide arts audiences with visual prompts toward self-reflection and empathy.