CURRENT (2021-Present)
I make impressions of living things, their struggle, their fragility. My interest lies with species loss and extinction which is occurring today at an accelerated rate. My sculptures are made of ordinary materials–plaster, silicone, paper, resin–yet they do not seem constructed, but rather grown.
At first glance, they may appear to be organisms. But upon a close look, the sculptural lifeforms may also seem to be devices or appliances. Light emits from openings in the forms and entices the viewer to approach them and inspect. There is a way to peer inside–viewing holes and mirrors reveal static or gestating animals as well as the viewer’s own face. Maybe the forms have been modified to aid in the conservation of another species. Or perhaps this is a glimpse of some sort of unusual evolution.
The manufactured world and the evolved world exist together in my work. The Symbiocene–the interconnectivity of all of earth’s life–is something I think about. Humans have become dependent on many beneficial technological advances which makes me wonder what the natural world is now.
PREVIOUS
The sculpture and installations I make exist at the intersection of medicine and nature. My practice took this focus when I witnessed something few people see–family members undergoing repeated surgical procedures. Day after day, I saw the fragility of the human body and observed the healing process and the physical apparatus it requires. As nurses applied bandages and placed tubes I began, through similar repetitive processes, to make objects–birds and nests–from the trash that healing procedures generated. The juxtaposition of organic forms and synthetic materials became alluring. I was drawn into the world of the hospital, and this became the basis of my inquiry.
My work implies a series of contradictions. These include nature and the artificial world that sustains us, resilience of the body and the advanced medical technology we have come to rely on, fear and sweetness, strength and vulnerability, and waste and environmental awareness.
