My work centers upon an investigation of human experience and a continual search for belonging. Tensions between longing, connection, distance and proximity fuel a persistent pondering over the idea of home, and whether this is found in an actual space or in the presence of another. I am also thinking about the feminine experience through self-portraiture, and indirectly through the use of jello. This rendered flesh, dressed up for consumption, temporarily conforms to a mold, but proves transitory - whether devoured or melted away. A midcentury icon, jello symbolizes homey domesticity yet simultaneously feels alien; other and familiar all at once. As a mechanism of indirect portraiture, these semi-transparent entities also symbolize the public and private elements of an individual’s persona and what they choose to conceal or reveal to others.
I am contemplating ideas of interior and exterior…whether implied internal landscapes or actual physical spaces, where outside comes in, and a pervasive calm suggests things may not be as they seem. Figures are often suspended and on display, like bits that glitter in a jello, held still for an indefinite amount of time until they move or break free.
Botanicals and native plants in the work function as both an intricate symbolism and as agents of hope. Plants and flora exist beyond ourselves. Like time travelers, they span both into history and optimistically, into the future. I am inspired by the hope embodied in a tiny seed…where a seemingly dead object can become a living entity and agent of healing, beauty and sustenance.