As a sculptor, I explore fusions and entanglements between natural and anthropogenic domains. Gently working remnants and extractions of plant life into a matrix of building materials, I conjure up figures and scenes that tell stories of creative coexistence, teasing out a new geography locating humans as partners with other forms of life. Nature is magical and I know what we do as humans is part of that magic. The sculptures are forays into an imaginary landscape where the natural and the artificial are in a balanced and reciprocal relationship.

 

Plants—extracted from the ground, found storm wrack, or cuttings—become active characters at the center of large three-dimensional compositions, where they interact with industrially processed materials—Portland cement, steel, copper, epoxy, and lumber. I assemble the natural fragments and fabricated shapes in a freestanding structure, employing rich paints and glazes, properties of reflectance and translucence, and the flexibility of materials, to expand on the meanings in the story as a whole. I want to highlight the affinities and interconnections in organic lives and human activity. These affinities could be literal, where for instance an upended tree resembles an animal, or more speculative and fragmented, for instance, where copper tubing is twined around flexible lianas (woody vines) to provide structural support and perform a metaphorical play on the conduction of life-giving water and mutualistic partnerships.

 

Each sculpture is a novel interaction between diverse elements, both natural and anthropogenic. It may not be clear what the rules or object of the interactions are, but that’s as it should be. There is an opportunity to contemplate themes of belonging, connection and freedom, and to know and be impacted by other types of beings.