General Artist Statement
Usefulness and function of an object are subjective. These works contain both actual and metaphoric relationships to ideas of recycling and sustainability. The paper involved has been directly recycled as new objects. What is created emphasizes its origins both literally and conceptually: vessels of recycled material that embody the principles of sustainability. The largest gain from this process is not the physical reduction of landfill, but the infiltration of these ideas through unconventional and unexpected channels.
Traditional woodturning and metalsmithing techniques, such as metalspinning and casting, are used in conjunction with atypical techniques, such as lathe-turned laminated paper and waterjet cutting. Expected and unexpected materials are also combined in the same piece, such as rubber gasket material as the edging of spun aluminum or lathe-turned paper components. The variety of surface finishes, whether it is a less refined surface that more directly references process, or a more finished surface that erases its process history.
The metal components function to focus the audience’s lens of examination to a range of related topics. Distressed perforated aluminum appears as armor that has endured a damaging siege. The utilization of aerial views of housing subdivisions, although abstracted, brings current suburban development patterns into the discussion of environmental considerations. The utilization of lead creates a contradictory situation where vessels are typically used to provide or protect but lead is a poisonous material, subverting this assumption.
The format of recognizable functional objects, such as vessels or wearables, provides an entry point for a broad and diverse audience. By having an initial reference point, those interacting with the work can compare their previous experiences with similar types of objects (plates, bowls, jewelry) with my work and gain further insight into its physical and conceptual layers. As a conduit for these ideas, my objects can foster a unique dialog that could be accomplished in no other way: I am able to speak through the objects while the audience is free to guide that conversation in directions important to themselves. Reflection about that journey facilitates a change in perspective that then informs future action.