PROGworkRESS ... (work in progress)

Images of recent work that is currently part of the second year MFA students' Work in Progress exhibit, with excerpts from my artist statement. The pieces in this show are inspired by patterns of growth and propagation, from benign forms of organic colonization to the more sinister processes of infection and infestation. The installation below is done with handmade paper. It covers a gallery wall that is approximately 13' wide x 9' tall, and includes a letterpress takeaway.

Contagion (above) explores our simultaneous aversion to and fascination with the grotesque. I am intrigued by imagery and experiences that are both compelling and repellant, both beautiful and threatening, and by how we attempt to find a balance between our innate curiosity and our instinctual fears.

Experimentation with materials for its own sake is an essential part of my artistic practice. I enjoy the challenge of transporting a material from its usual context and transforming it into something entirely new or unexpected. Born out of these interests, Colony (above) conflates organic and synthetic by referencing elegant patterns of clonal growth with inert industrial materials. It is 3' x 3', made with recycled bicycle tubes (flats) and hardware cloth.

(Postcard I designed to promote the show)