Artist Statement: General
Through my work I attempt to find ways to decipher and locate myself in the context of what surrounds me. I raise questions about and create conflicts to the regular order of life and the rational mind. I want to challenge people’s relationships with the familiar. Themes of alteration, fragmentation, manipulation, transformation and creating the absurd cross between and inform my different bodies of work. Looking at, reflecting upon and working with what surrounds me and encroaches into my existence, literally and figuratively, gives me a better understanding of my psyche and helps me place myself in the world.
Utilizing non-traditional materials is at the heart of my working method. In all my work there is no deception of material content. Beyond clay, I use what I call laymen’s supplies. These are common, readily available, domestic materials that include: tape, paper, markers, fabric, fingernail polish and household paint. I combine these with trash-picked discarded items and thrift store finds, which I view as undesirables waiting for a fresh place to exist. Beginning with pre-existing objects, images and materials provides a layer of history and narrative that I am able to react to, with or against. The simple, moribund, and unpretentious characteristics of the materials I use takes my work away from preciousness and aligns it within the milieu of the everyday realm. I prefer my work to exist on the humble level of the everyday, thus not creating an instant hierarchy and separation from viewers.
Click here to read the Animal Artist Statement.
Through my work I attempt to find ways to decipher and locate myself in the context of what surrounds me. I raise questions about and create conflicts to the regular order of life and the rational mind. I want to challenge people’s relationships with the familiar. Themes of alteration, fragmentation, manipulation, transformation and creating the absurd cross between and inform my different bodies of work. Looking at, reflecting upon and working with what surrounds me and encroaches into my existence, literally and figuratively, gives me a better understanding of my psyche and helps me place myself in the world.
Utilizing non-traditional materials is at the heart of my working method. In all my work there is no deception of material content. Beyond clay, I use what I call laymen’s supplies. These are common, readily available, domestic materials that include: tape, paper, markers, fabric, fingernail polish and household paint. I combine these with trash-picked discarded items and thrift store finds, which I view as undesirables waiting for a fresh place to exist. Beginning with pre-existing objects, images and materials provides a layer of history and narrative that I am able to react to, with or against. The simple, moribund, and unpretentious characteristics of the materials I use takes my work away from preciousness and aligns it within the milieu of the everyday realm. I prefer my work to exist on the humble level of the everyday, thus not creating an instant hierarchy and separation from viewers.
Click here to read the Animal Artist Statement.
