General Intro:
My work is about: patterns, round things, pops of bright color, a sense of abundance. Things that are lush, that are multi-textured, that have a sense of multicolor or multiplicity. I create things to battle shame with the intention of spreading joy in order to better face the challenges, darkness and the injustices of the world around us.
I am inspired by both cultural and biological diversity. My work continues to evolve into a celebration of everything on this planet however big or small and highlighting their self organizing capacities.
By taking small items that were either discarded, mass produced, or both, I create a process by balancing the play principle with structure. What started as an instinctual meditative process developed into a way to communicate and contribute to our cultural commons.
My choice to use small items in order to create a larger image comes from my personal experiences of being part of a collective; It embodies diversity and the freedom to stay alive.
This installation here, Proboscis Paradise, is an installation that required me submitting a proposal -- this was my first ever proposal or anything immersive interactive and especially outdoors at this scale
I started with a lot of potential ideas. Only after visiting the physical site, not virtually, but in Massachusetts, I could envision exactly what I wanted to do. I was listening to the grounds manager walk me around the projects going on, different gardens being planted, trees, nursurseys and then he started talking about the meadows with the wildflowers, and that got me thinking and excited to look at an aster, one of the many wildflowers growing there, as a reference. Asters are a native wildflower, they also are native in several other places, but there are also hundreds of different types of asters based on where they are from, but what’s really great about them besides being beautiful, is that they are great for all types of pollinators, which of course feeds into a bigger ecosystem. I really enjoy and am inspired by the self organizing capabilities of any organism. On the drive back to Connecticut, I remember the wheels turning and knowing immediately that I wanted to make aster inspired sculptures, but larger than life so the colors could reflect into people’s faces and skin and spread out in a large space because I was worried with COVID, people would be scared to interact if things were too close and I wanted them to be flexible like fabric, so they could move with the wind, and thought of plastic bags and how after being heated, they acted like a tarp. So, I sketched it out, sent it in, and after it was accepted, I figured it out over a long but very exciting process. I knew coming into this semester that I wanted to create work that is more interactive and immersive. This work I did was a step in the right direction, however looking at this upcoming semester I want to push this idea further by synthesizing it more with the fiber feel of my lichens but the gradients from my pencil sculptures and looking at the transition from inside to outside or some type of portable installation.
These are a few images of people I have never met in my life with my installation that I found on instagram or facebook. I was really excited to see this and know that while I made it, those people are creating their own memories and experiences that will be completely different than what I experienced or how you’re all experiencing it and I just think that idea of a collective experience even if separated from each other or maybe not, is something that I would like to explore.
I want to build relationships with companies that regularly get rid of some type of waste that I can form relationships with. I’m a maker and want to continue to make but responsibly and without the need to be community based. I think there is something exciting about plopping artwork in places that you don’t have permission or it’s not expected without any warning to the community, in order to disrupt with the intention of creating magical joy.
I’ve struggled with creating something with found objects and then needing more of it so then I have to buy it. I’ve researched artists like Tara Donnovan who don’t recycle necessarily, and I still respect it but long term, my goal is to get away from buying first hand materials. I watch the yale graduate students in MFA programs consistently buy materials that get shipped in from amazon, and then watch the crate with their artwork leave the next week to a solo show at the gagosian in Paris or something -- and in this historical building that used to be a toy factory in New Haven -- it just makes it so much more obvious that I can work harder to not contribute to the cycle of production and consumption while still honoring my making needs.
At the same time, I do not want to be limited in the field of an eco artist - I want to keep everything open.
Thank you!
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