Vision Statement:
To meet with others through common work
By traveling, interpret new environs
-Natural and Urban- in an experiential way
Statement of Practice
Working in several parallel areas; indoor-studio based, outdoor-site specific response as well as in a community engaged installation practice, my focus shifts with what is seasonally at hand.
In community outdoor work, my creative process begins with a harvest principal that embraces communal stewardship of the land; weeding, invasive species removal, coppicing, gleaning and gathering. Oral traditions of knowledge sharing occur; my own experience with plants and their uses are exchanged with those familiar to a place through close investigation of the surroundings, walking, sharing stories about the landscape and observed shifts in eco-systems.
Installation ideas spring forth through conversation, idea sharing, identifying what materials are suitable for harvest and the consideration of the inherent physical properties of both place and material used.
A site-responsive, collaborative improv with community unfolds.
My role is often that of a travelling catalyst: a new element in an environment, spring boarding a local community to see their own landscape from a fresh perspective and with renewed appreciation and wonder. Basic weaving, lashing and hand skills are introduced and individuals work side by side while a sculptural direction unfolds. Drawing upon a women’s cultural work history and social structure; as with quilting bees, everyone’s piece becomes a part of the whole.
The gradual decay and natural process of succession is embraced as the eco-system becomes the final collaborator. Work decays while birds perch, insects feast and fresh growth sprouts on the sculptural work in-situ, participating in the eco-system- not independent of its surroundings.
