My love for creating and working with my hands extends throughout my life. I jump between creative and mundane processes of making in order to navigate the day to day. Whether it is making a plan for the day, cooking a meal, or creating a new artwork, I crave and thrive on the intention of assembling things. I have recently received my MFA and have returned to my home town of West Bend, Wisconsin. Living and studying abroad in South Africa for four years, granted me the opportunity to immerse myself within the support of an educational environment while also broadening my knowledge of materiality and making. Along with many new practical skills, I have developed an increasing interest in teaching and community based art. I recently received an internship position at the John Michael Kohler Art Center, where I hope to gain experience in arts programming and education.
Mediums: Found fabric, felt, paint
Favorite Artist Tool: Sewing machine
Go-to Local Inspiration: Thrift shops
Mentor Compliment: I admire John’s intuitive skill in painting and his love of color, pattern, and texture that accompany the joy that takes precedence in his work.
Fun Fact: I once slept on a roof in Sicily for 10 nights.
Serious Fact: Quilts, sentimental books, and good food have recently fuelled my creativity and have always brought me joy.
Artist Statement
I move through making by using repetition as a conjoining tool. Needle and thread physically connect and repeat, while paint clings to the surface, and color reverberates throughout the work.
I use the color pink and scale of my work to contemplate emotions such as joy and shame, and their relationship to the body. Each work has a center point or a buried layer that mirrors the center of the body where one might hold love, bear fear, or recognize intuition. I aim to create points where the eye can sit on recognizable symbols, while also slipping in and out of other plains of color, texture, and pattern within the work. By leading the eye in this way, I hope to bring attention to how material grows and settles in tandem with sensation and emotion in daily life. Just as feelings bloom, fester, or dissipate, so does the artwork.