Sometimes I like to ask myself “Why are you a sculptor?” “Why do you make art?” or “Why are designing spaces so important to your initiatives?” These are important questions for me to stay on course for my mission. I have to constantly remind myself and explore my WHY. I am 5’5” and weigh about 105 pounds. Physically I look like the furthest thing from a “sculptor”, which even today is a genre of art dominated by men. People typically assume I make DIY projects (because I have tattoos and am a millennial), or have multiple strong gentlemen at by beck and call (because there is no way my small frame is bending metal and hauling lumber). Neither of these things are true. I’m not saying I do everything on my own all the time. I have people I trust that support the technical goals of each experience I create. 

From an academic stand point, my practice is based in basic carpentry, painting and printmaking, in the sense of how I manipulate my materials. This is where things can get interesting, my experiences are based on interior design, architecture and how space is utilized. When these practice and experiences collide the result is sculptural installations. 

Installation art has become more accessible within the art world. Utilizing found object or mass produced materials arranged in unused spaces and galleries, and interacting with the viewer are the telltale signs you are in an installation or a happening. I handle raw materials the same way a painter handles paint on whatever surface they choose. My surface is the design of 3 dimensional space. How I adorn walls, suspend my objects, and influence the space for the viewer’s reaction creates my impact to the culture of art. The reaction is not one I can control, and that is a beautiful feeling. 

So why am I a sculptor?

3 dimensional objects whether they are about form, function, or purely for aesthetics are the things we interact with daily. Life is 3 dimensional. Life is utilitarian. Sculpture can be presented on different planes of existence. This is the first part of my WHY. 

Why do I make art?

Art takes innovation to create something that is more than ordinary. Expressions of the extraordinary. It’s about taking ideas, shapes, colors, textures, materials, and pushing them from what and how they are typically used for and manipulating them to be extraordinary. Art is the language I speak pushing myself to move through expressive gestures presented in physical space.

Why is space important?

I’m obsessed with physical space. I always have been. I’m intrigued by how people interact with space, the things they do and don’t notice. How each person has a different experience. When you walk into someone’s house or into a retail store and you can literally see the personality radiating through each simple moment, object, color, and texture. It’s the physical design story that gives a sense of connection. 

The answer to my why questions are true to my personal beliefs and lifestyle. I need to move through the expressive gesture of fabricating something that has appeared in my mind due to a vision. That vision can best be described as inspiration. Inspiration comes in different forms. Conversation, physical experience, and the past, just a name a few. Creating physical installations pushes people to move through personal expressive gestures guiding their intuition and as a result having a feeling in which I have directed them.