Artist Statement

My work centers around a fascination with social organization. The format of the house and its interior anatomy influence how we position ourselves in social environments. I tend to work in metaphor using rooms and buildings as a way to stage an interaction with various forms of seating, which have become my stand-in for people.  I often veer away from using figures in my work, because the body is something that is so personal. I want to work with imagery that you can take a few steps back from. Chairs, beds, and sofas, are all examples of furniture that shadow the human figure, their primary function being to hold a body. The way a piece of furniture holds you and the way it looks effects how you experience your environment. The hard and simple feel of the Shaker ladder back chair stands stark in comparison to the lavish and opulent style of a Louis XV sofa or arm chair. We broadcast our individual aesthetic through objects and their arrangement. It is a way to explain ourselves, our likes and dislikes, and to attract or repel others. With that in mind, these pieces reflect different relationships I have experienced, relationships with others as well as with myself. I invite the viewer to imagine coming upon these buildings and pieces of furniture, entering these rooms, these staged scenarios, and to be aware of the level of comfort or unease it creates, or how one feels when situated in a particular piece of furniture. 

 

While I often find the design phase of the work grueling and a daily test of will, the process of cutting paper is meditative and cathartic for me. The finished work and the process become a place where I can exert control and my own ideal of perfection that is seemingly otherwise absent in daily life.