Advanced Fiber Studio (Highlights)
The conventions and ideals of science greatly influence my practice. It is through the language of reason that I fabricate evidence, illustrate facts, and invent tools to classify, quantify and prove the non-existent. Identity, loss and truth, all ideas that feel nearly tangible, are some of the major themes in my work. I appropriate images from science like predation patterns, fingerprint evidence and natural history displays to depict these themes.
My practice is heavily based in research. In addition to my studio practice, I produce scholarly writing. As such, acquiring information profoundly shapes my work. Much of my work features repetitive action, as repetition is one of the hallmarks of scientific proof. The use of maximalist aesthetics in my work, such as encrusting surfaces with hand stitching, reflects this obsession with repetition. Scientific methodologies are also mirrored by the rigorous way in which I conduct material experimentation and research.
Techniques such as embroidery and quilting give the viewer an immediate familiarity that allows them to delve into my work. The juxtaposition of the familiar and domestic with the sterile and strange also creates a dissonance that begs for reexamination. I leave discordant artifacts of the hand, such as uncut threads, in my otherwise precise work in order to invoke this paradox.
My work is currently investigating the complex relationship between humans and animals, the same theme explored in my academic work. Recently I have been focusing on how animals, their depiction, and their treatment can be used as lens through which to examine human relationships. My current body of work employs the language of the sport-hunting trophy and the collection to examine these issues, creating animal heads from incongruent sources gossamer paper and plush felt.