Through seeing I translate my experiences into installations. In my work I practice seeing as a way of rediscovering my environment. Connecting others and myself to experiences in nature is the basis of my work. I try to make these connections through form.
Experimentation with materials and watching my work grow unexpectedly is what I enjoy most about creating my work. Getting to the point of understanding my material in a new way gives me the most excitement. The materials I work with are transformed by carefully understanding their properties. Creating the unexpected out of a material is one way I challenge not only myself but also the eyes of the viewer. Light is also an important material in my work because it often references the light in nature.
A large part of the work that I create is based on processes. I start with one base unit that accumulates into a larger form. The process is constantly changing and developing. My pieces tend to be extremely tedious and repetitive. I am drawn to the concept of assembly lines and the ways in which factories operate by producing masses of a product through planned processes. In many ways my process references both the life cycle of natural and man made objects. Through my work I try to transform my materials in a way that makes the viewer question the way we impact our environment.
The work that I am currently developing is created out of found material in masses. I am working with newspaper as my material. I was drawn to this material because of my interest in working with things that are in need of reuse and recycling. By working with newspaper I’ve started to investigate consumer culture. Most recently I have begun to make connections between the abandoned buildings in Baltimore and the wasted materials found within them. Through this investigation I have become more involved with addressing the loss of Baltimore’s industrial history that is being replaced with commercial developments. I have become involved with researching and working with a specific building in the city.
Through my process of working with this building my hope is to involve the community in understanding how we accumulate masses of waste. I find it important to understand that this building not only holds lots of wasted materials inside but the added waste that will be created when it is torn down. More importantly, the history of this building will be lost and forgotten as has been witnessed already throughout the city with areas of redevelopment.
