The following selected portfolio is presented in reverse chronological order.
This was the last installation piece I did of this kind. A big part of these installations is the performance art aspect that is behind the scenes- a dance between myself and the work. Depending on the location of these 'string pieces' I can be hanging off a ladder, crawling on the ground, or through the piece itself, and contorting myself in other ways to get the lines tied together and taped to the floor or walls. It takes about three days to add enough lines so that the piece has mass and the semblance of volume.
Heavy Cloud, 2013
7'x 4' x 2' elastic string, duct tape |
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This series began as an experiment to see if I could make a wine goblet that looked like a crumpled paper bag. The resulting cups are made of porcelain with a clear glaze. The folds and undulations of the paper really show up well on the white forms. I would like to expand this series to other cups, plates and bowls.
Porcelain Paperbag, 2011
6"x 3.5" x 3.5" porcelain |
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This string installation was put into a window space in the Silvia White Gallery in Ventura, California. The process of creating the piece was in this instance- a public performance since I was on display with my piece while it was being made. I had a very large space to fill, and used a bright pink string to make it stand out more and play off of the brick wall on one side of the window space. The title comes from the way the lines open and crash and weave like waves coming to the shore, and the retreating again into the sea.
Transformation, 2010
9'x 8'x 6' elastic string, masking tape |
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These pieces were made to emulate crystal forms- and what would happen if they were created out of a soft and floppy material instead of a rigid one. The result were some humorous forms that are like beanbag sculptures.
Floppy Crystals. 2008
24"x 36" (variable dimensions) latex, polyfill balls |
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Stretch, 2008
10'x 3' elastic string, masking tape |
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This piece was created using yellow elastic string and masking tape. It was part of a show I was in with some friends in a Boston gallery. I mainly used the ceiling beam and the floor for this piece- hoping that the verticality and height of the lines would create a visual and actual tension in the piece that you could feel when observing it closely. I spent quite a bit of time building this piece on a ladder due to the tall ceilings. |
These sculptures were made primarily from foam sheets that I glued together into huge blocks, and then carved, painted and coated with rock salt. These were inspired by mineral specimens and their wonderful colors and crystalline structures.
Aggregates, 2007
24"x 10"x 7" styrofoam, pigment |
Blimpite & Paralite, 2007
20" x 30" x 18" (each) styrofoam, pigment, rock salt |
For this series I was experimenting with casting hydrocal plaster into different containers. I liked how the liquid material would record every tiny detail of the object it had been cast in. The pieces in the 'Structure' series were cast in tinfoil and the pieces in the 'Gravity' series were cast in plastic trash bags. The tinfoil kept its form even when the plaster was poured in, but the plastic bag had to be tied and taped onto something to hold the proper shape- hence the titles of the two series.
Structure, 2007
3' in diameter hydrocal plaster |
Gravity, 2007
variable dimensions; 5.5' x 4' x 8" (installed) hydrocal plaster |
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Instead of casting these pieces, I carved the plaster into specific forms. Plaster can be such a smooth and beautiful material- it is almost illuminated from within. These pieces are like remnants from a larger installation. |
Post-Harvest, 2007
variable dimensions; 3.5'x 12"x 2" (installed) hydrocal plaster, moss |
This was the first 'string' installation that I made. It took about 4 days of tying and taping the strings to add enough volume so that the piece would become clearly visible when moving around it. You can see in the side image how many strings make up the piece. I like that it was so different from the front as compared to the side view- like the piece revealing itself as you move around it.
Grounded, 2007
14' x 4' elastic string, masking tape |
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I made these paper sculptures when I was doing my residency in Germany. I worked primarily with paper when I was there and I came up with these abstract sculptures using mylar paper and different colored pigments. When glue and pigment was added to the mylar it curled and compressed in interesting ways that made for some interesting forms.
Pink Scoop, 2006
3.5"x 2.5"x 2" mylar paper, pigment |
Green Trumpet, 2006
3.5" x 3"x 1.5" mylar paper, pigment |
Packet, 2006
3"x 3.5" x 1" mylar paper, pigment |
Stack, 2006
3.5"x 3"x 1.25" mylar paper, pigment |
Moss Cone, 2006
4.5"x 1.5"x 1.5" mylar paper, pigment |
Yellow Peak, 2006
3.5"x 3.5"x 1.5" mylar paper, pigment |
This was my thesis piece that was made for the graduate degree show at Cranbrook Art Academy. I was working with form and shadow, so I decided to use the workbench that was in my studio space there to create an installation that spoke about the objects of my everyday use that were no longer occupying the space. I wanted a ghostly image of them to remain- a reminder of the presence that was once there- in the form of shadows on the wall, silhouettes on the bench top and cutouts that went through the bench to represent the shadows that the objects made.
Impressions Of Presence, 2004
35"x 60"x 30" altered workbench |
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I made these sculptures to look like shelves that were held up by the shadows that were created by the objects lying on top. Playing with 2D and 3D- shape and form, seeing what forms would appear when converting shadow into the 3rd dimension.
Beyond The Known #1, 2004
48"x 12"x 27.5" wood, book, paint |
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Beyond The Known #2, 2004
48"x 12"x 27.5" wood, spray can, paint |
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Public Privacy, 2004
36" x 36"x 12" (closed) 8'x 36"x 8' (open) copper, brass, steel, rubber, felt |
This piece was inspired by the fact that when it rains and everyone is under their umbrella, there is an interesting separation between people. We are all in our own private spaces, yet still in public together. The umbrella I made was closed by putting the two halves of the handle together and then raised up by sliding the handle up the central bar. It was a very complicated build with lots of mechanisms used to mimic the movement of an umbrella. |