My relationship with objects is connected to how I interpret the body, the emotional self, and human consciousness. I aim to provoke the viewer to consider their own relationship between the objects and themselves. I make work to connect with others, and to create an intimate experience between the viewer and the work; something similar to the intimacy formed between two people. Vulnerability is one way in which I choose to connect. I open myself up to the audience, through the work. I confide in the work and the work whispers subtlety to viewer. Visually, I am drawn to organic and vaguely figurative forms…body as an object that has a relationship with the other bodies and objects around them. This begins my practice, often starting with process oriented craft techniques. I then fuse these products with experimental materials and forms that seem to have an emotive quality that I relate to. I trust intuition and improvisation, and rely on spontaneity to challenge my own aesthetic and emotional sense. Materials I choose may start as formal decisions, but also must have meaning, concept, and/or inherent cultural signifiers. The pieces are thus imbued with their own unique appeal…vulnerable yet unafraid. Mundane objects now become important amongst the crafted material as metaphor for the creative meeting the banal. By turning the dials just so, my work asks the viewer how we relate to each other; what can we do to see our interconnectedness with each other and the objects around us; and how does this piece relate to us physically, emotionally, and intellectually. Inviting the viewer to interact and bond with my work is quite intimate and exhilarating. I find that this notion…this fantasy…of engaging intimately with my viewers, their bodies and minds, drives my work in the studio effortlessly.
