My body of work takes on the task of locating and giving form to shapeless sensations like presence, agitation or what it feels like to be full after eating. These attempts will eventually fail because these feelings can never quite be physically manifested. There is, however, often something more desirable in the always-absent compared to the attainable. The attempt to find shape and materiality for these abstract ideas involves collecting, combining, squinting, and
meandering forward. Up close and in combination, these pieces begin to represent the fluidity and contradictions of the everyday.
“Sink In” explores relationships to objects that may both help and hinder the tasks of daily life. Themes of accumulation, function, and dependence emerge from examinations of piles, hooks, ledges, folds, drawers, lamp extensions, and window coverings. I have been specifically interested in positions of utility—some designed and some discovered such as the towel hanging on the dresser pull or the rake leaning against the wall stopped by a pair of work boots. Proximity
dictates compositions as arms reach becomes a standard distance.
Water by nature is nondescript and by definition is liquid. It wets, it washes, it quenches, it chills, it fills, it destroys, it hydrates and it reflects. Water is relatable since we are made of it. Water has presence, almost spiritual in its ability to cleanse, reflect and evaporate. Water creates and sustains life; it also damages and deteriorates. It drips, fills, and runs through the objects within the exhibition.
- Positions of Utility, 2019
blanket, paper mache, wax, joint compound,
paint