Living near a gorge carved from glacial flow and eroded by a creek, everyday I observe the interconnectivity of nature through small details that reflect the massive forces which shaped the environment. I research topographic maps along with the geological events involved in the formation of landscapes and make artworks out of handmade paper and out of clay.
My practice centers on expressing the many-layered formation of landscape. The process of layering is essential to my subject and remains a visible and important aspect of the finished work. All my artworks are small, and designed to be looked at very closely, much like the details I observe in nature that reflect their surroundings.
Making a connection between the landscape created through erosion by natural forces and the sculpture created through cutting away layers of paper or clay is fundamental to my practice. In all my sculptures, as in nature, the process of layering indicates a state of transformation, becoming a record of change through time.
So viewers can better appreciate the multilayered relief surfaces, I exhibit my collage work without glass, floated within protective shadow box frames. My ceramic sculptures are fired in an anagama kiln where the heat, smoke and ash become elemental collaborators in the finishing of their forms. Both my collage works and my ceramic works are often designed to be assembled together and displayed as wall installations.
My artworks reveal landscapes as they were at a time far before the presence of humans, though remnants of the geological events they reference can still be observed in our environment today. Displaying a balance between the delicacy of the layers and the ruggedness of the forms, these works remind us of both the fragility and the perseverance of nature in our Anthropocene Age.