Artist Statement

My practice begins with an exploration of local junkyards, dumpsters and abandoned buildings, in search of discarded objects. I look for specific kinds of grid-like structures that have been worn, broken down, and decayed.  Within these, I particularly respond to the patinas and imprinted patterns that are created through corrosion. These are stories (history) written on the surface.

By taking these objects out of the trash and placing them in the gallery, I give each object a new life and a new way of existing in the world. Through my own intervention, including traditional methods of embroidery, crochet, beading, and binding, these objects are transformed from utilitarian objects to items of beauty and reflection.

I see this body of work as a collection of souvenirs. As Susan Stewart stated in On Longing, “The souvenir speaks to a context of origin through a language of longing, for it is not an object arising out of need or use value; it is an object arising out of the necessarily insatiable demands of nostalgia.”  The condition of each of these objects gives us clues to its origins, yet its full story remains out of our reach.