Artist Statement
I’m a mixed media artist who works in a variety of ways including sculpture, painting, and photography. I don’t limit myself to traditional artist materials and my work often incorporates elements which are normally discarded and which most people might think have outlived their usefulness. Some examples are rusted metal, old wood, hair from the stylist’s floor, scraps of old newspaper or burlap, and thrift store markdowns. One day I was digging through a dumpster in order to salvage some desperately needed parts. Some people passing by in a car yelled “dumpster diver!” and I thought yes, that definitely describes me; I search for beauty in unexpected places. I also integrate more typical artist materials such as oil paint, original photographs, and encaustic made from beeswax and colored pigments.
It isn’t essential to me that the viewer recognizes the source or type of materials that make up a finished piece, but the transformation that occurs is intrinsic to my artistic process. An abandoned cart axle becomes a mystical temple, discarded hair becomes a supple curve or an intricate line drawing, a photographic image becomes submerged in wax and paint, and takes on new meaning. I allow the combined materials to go on their own journey to become something more than they were before. Sometimes I direct, and sometimes I have learned to step out of the way.
My work explores inner states of being and seemingly contradictory feelings that coexist within us. We feel private, yet exposed; we feel energized, yet we possess an inner stillness; we constantly question, yet feel sure. We can be one thing on the surface and something altogether different a layer below.
Rather than discarding or denying these contradictions, I feel these are what make us complex and interesting. In both life and in my work, even the most flawed or imperfect elements become an essential part of the process of becoming whole, or more fully who we are.
I’m a mixed media artist who works in a variety of ways including sculpture, painting, and photography. I don’t limit myself to traditional artist materials and my work often incorporates elements which are normally discarded and which most people might think have outlived their usefulness. Some examples are rusted metal, old wood, hair from the stylist’s floor, scraps of old newspaper or burlap, and thrift store markdowns. One day I was digging through a dumpster in order to salvage some desperately needed parts. Some people passing by in a car yelled “dumpster diver!” and I thought yes, that definitely describes me; I search for beauty in unexpected places. I also integrate more typical artist materials such as oil paint, original photographs, and encaustic made from beeswax and colored pigments.
It isn’t essential to me that the viewer recognizes the source or type of materials that make up a finished piece, but the transformation that occurs is intrinsic to my artistic process. An abandoned cart axle becomes a mystical temple, discarded hair becomes a supple curve or an intricate line drawing, a photographic image becomes submerged in wax and paint, and takes on new meaning. I allow the combined materials to go on their own journey to become something more than they were before. Sometimes I direct, and sometimes I have learned to step out of the way.
My work explores inner states of being and seemingly contradictory feelings that coexist within us. We feel private, yet exposed; we feel energized, yet we possess an inner stillness; we constantly question, yet feel sure. We can be one thing on the surface and something altogether different a layer below.
Rather than discarding or denying these contradictions, I feel these are what make us complex and interesting. In both life and in my work, even the most flawed or imperfect elements become an essential part of the process of becoming whole, or more fully who we are.
