Artist Statement
Growing up near the ocean, I spent solitary hours studying tiny, battered shell fragments rolling at the water’s edge—imagining the creatures they once belonged to and searching for clues about their hidden lives. These quiet moments of observation, tucked away in places where things grew or waited to be found, nurtured a deep sense of curiosity and solitude that continues to shape my work. Now, I turn that same gaze inward, imagining the unseen structures of my inner world as I examine themes of identity, visibility, and emotional weight.
By bringing the felt yet unseen parts of myself into representation through my work, I bring myself further into being. Externalizing my imagination of what cycles and moments of feeling look like fosters personal growth by offering understanding, release, and a sense of permeability—allowing me to be seen, less isolated, and engaged in human connection. Embodiment in my work allows something internal to emerge into an externalized form—a body that I can examine, understand, or release. It may be a body of pain, confusion, unease, desire, joy, or need. By bypassing language and engaging with sensory perception, I access deeper knowledge of myself and the cycles I’m experiencing in my life and offer them to others to explore for themselves.
I’m drawn to a broad range of materials that allow me to work intuitively and improvisationally, ones I can influence but that also ‘push back’ or influence me with their inherent qualities. There is a dialogue between the material and myself, a mutual shaping and revealing that emphasizes an interplay of control and surrender, where invention and the material’s qualities guide my exploration. Through material exploration, I make the unknown visible, giving shape to what is deeply felt but not easily named.