Materials are fundamentally human centric and give a visceral account of our needs and desires. Typically, human-made objects exist to answer a question or solve a problem. My practice intertwines this question-based impulse with the exploration of materiality. I consider materials’ human nature, their potential, and their ability to transcend our preconceptions about them.

In my practice, “material” refers to any object that is human-made and does not naturally occur in nature. Physical things inform every part of our being; they connect us to other times and root us in the community. Fabric swaddles us through life, tools aid our labor, dishes hold our food. By nature of necessity, materials chronicle our history as complex individuals and, when dissociated from use, catalogue our existence as artifacts. As I work, I consider our human nature and ask further questions: making up answers when I find none or am unsatisfied with a resolution.

I approach my practice without preconception of a final product. As I work, I let the chosen material dictate much of the form: succumbing to its natural weight or flexibility while exploring its potential. Throughout the process of making, I lean about and consider the embedded physical or psychological content of the objects and materials in my hands. By the explorative act of material manipulation, I muse through making.

Each material I use is carefully considered, explored, and manipulated. By selecting discarded materials that are worn and weathered or that contain a rich visual association, the core of my work contains an embedded but indirect history. The objects I select whisper anonymous memories on the periphery.