Description

My works are surrogates for me. They are proxy bodies. My work is autobiographical—a collection of short stories and time lived I grew up in rural Southern Indiana; a world of calloused hands, unforgiving sunburns, rusted relics, and groves of poison ivy. As a child left largely to my own devices, I was forced to create ways of entertaining myself. This meant much of my time was spent out in the landscape, avoiding hornet’s nests and looking for adventures. I invented elaborate and constantly shifting narratives that allowed me to break free from the constraints of my reality. During these adventures I collected small objects; interesting twigs, a stray precious geode, maybe a shed cicada skin if the season was right. I then used these as triggers to later remember the stories I had created. When I first began these expeditions, I couldn’t read. I used my collections as a kind of language so that I could relive my experiences again and again. This was a private act, a way to record myself that felt safe because only I could read these words. My artwork is an extension of this practice. Serving as both map and legend, my work is a record of my lived experience. With surfaces layered with mark-making, relief, overlay, and color, each of my objects is densely packed with the allegories and symbols that spell out my stories. And though my hope is that people can see themselves in some of the work, and relate to the imagery, it is mine. This work serves as an archive of lives I have lived and the worlds I have created.