Statement

The beauty of play is in its ability to inspire curiosity and collaboration as agents of personal growth and social change. My art practice uses play to reimagine the disenfranchised in concept and form. I am interested in used materials and ordinary domestic items for their stories and their potential to be extraordinary. Collecting cast-off textiles and household objects from family members, garage sales, and roadside debris, I transform throw-away materials into the building blocks of my work. By stitching, marking, knitting, and stuffing I use the materials’ imperfections as a narrative guide when I alter them. Then, as I pull from my stockpile of modified treasures, I tease out new structures, working intuitively on multiple pieces until a series evolves from physical and conceptual interactions. My approach is an open one with little planning or sketching, relying heavily on discovering new and unlikely connections through experimentation. Each piece can be viewed as a complex entity with meanings both independent of and reliant on the works around it. In many ways this reflects the ever-shifting existence we all share. Most importantly, I hope to create tactile experiences of play that dislodge traditional assumptions while encouraging the ability to see and value differently.