“Fite Fuaite” steel rod, hand dyed fabric & yarn from Native Ireland species, 22”H x14”W x 14D”, 2023, $2,500.00
My work is focused on organic forms and concepts, derived from the complexity of nature, to create a dynamic design. While my art does not always follow these criteria, it is a theme I consistently refer to, even if through the subconsciousness. My work has progressively become more about me as an individual, regarding what I am familiar with, as I have grown up with nature in my backyard and enjoy immersing myself in it. This relationship organizes into formulated ideas of vegetation growth, how humans impact the world around them (and vice versa), as well as animal and insect behaviors.
My sculptures are multidisciplinary. I utilize different types of media and building processes to create an engaging contrast between the natural and the artificial. I enjoy switching it up to express more talents. I exercise methods of metal work (welding, heat formation, and foundry), fiber art (crochet, weaving, sewing, macrame, basket weaving, embroidery, and needlepoint), drawing, painting, woodburning, paper art, carpentry, and more. Whenever I come across some form of creation that is new to me, I make it become a part of my skillset.
I appreciate working with in-depth concepts that seem familiar but may need further investigation on the audience’s behalf as I create a pause in reality for the definition of the piece to surface. While I am well versed in topics regarding nature and aspire to have my audience also be able to make these connections; to either being customary and comforting to them or being out worldly and a new lens of knowledge. Examples include familiar household objects, plants, materials, and themes, but shown in a new light and juxtaposed with other elements. My pieces create conversations, amusement, and/or bewilderment; regarding how they were fabricated, to what their abstraction could indicate, or their expression of detail.
I explore delicacy and intricacy on a larger scale, either physically or logistically. Skill and attention to detail are important to me. A few methods of creation I undertake are classically defined as “craft”, so I manipulate this term and produce a higher art form. I do not want my work to be seen as mundane, but I also want to bring out features of craft to highlight the detail that becomes overlooked. Methods such as crochet or sewing become perceived as ordinary, but the idea that the interwovenness of fiber can be joined into an entanglement of something new, either purposeful or for décor, is poetic. I intend to capture that poetic essence and express its potential to unlock new value.