Artist Statement

 

Experiencing the loss of a loved one is an inevitable part of being human. It cannot be escaped. Presently, I am examining the topics of connection, loss, history, and death itself in my own work, and in particular how our culture copes with these topics through objects of memory. My art is continually affected by a fluid social environment and the ever-changing definitions of the world around us. We tend to lay plastic flowers at the grave marker of a loved one. I see these as surrogates of memory, a way to remind ourselves the loved one is still present in our lives, in our hearts. I create awkward and dreamlike replacement memorial objects consisting of primarily traditional American burial rituals to engage the viewer with a sense of surreal loss and connection.

 

The work is an instinctive progression of gathering, sorting, and associating in order to evoke and define an installation’s volume and space. Using a wide range of mainly domestic and mundane found objects, I explore their captivating qualities and sense of tactility in a manner that addresses humanity without utilizing the human form. Materials such as pantyhose and wax give the viewer a feeling of skin and body. By acquiring and uniting contrasting materials, a new identity is created. Objects are accumulated and given a new form and community. The original objects achieve new meaning, but they also are the bridge between the viewer and the new ideas and questions I propose. They are physical proof of our lives, and therefore allow viewers to connect with the work by way of their existing, past, and fantasy relationships with ordinary things, allowing one to recall memories.  I seek to evoke a sense of loss, connection, memorialization, and wonder through intrinsically understated objects.