Repurposing is a consistent thread found throughout my work. Initially driven by need, recycled house paint and discarded bed sheets served as my primary tools as I could not afford materials to make art. Over time, my need for these materials diminished yet my desire to use them strengthened. I find purpose in turning waste into viable art.

My work can be viewed as two distinct but closely related bodies. One body relying heavily on painting and the history of abstraction to respond to found objects while the other employs the techniques of various crafts as a means to discover personal identity, to comment on consumerism, and to investigate the divide between craft and art.

Because my work is now situated between painting and sculpture, the materials have evolved to include items such as found fabric and wood, pieces of home decor, and tchotchkes. Most of these items either lack function or have outlived their intended purposes but find new meaning in the work. For this body of paintings the found object is primary. Despite being forgotten or discarded, these artifacts retain value in the histories and stories they have the potential to tell through the work; they carry in them the means to create fictional narratives about past owners while simultaneously eliciting personal memories from the viewer.

The work I make is in direct response to social concerns such as waste and environmental issues, consumerism and the labor industry, and mass-production. These matters are too grandiose for one person to tackle and can often leave one to feel powerless and ineffective. Through craft and art, I am enacting control over common household objects and forcing them to transform and meld into colorful, encouraging, and optimistic works of art. My work is an act of rebellion, albeit a personal one, to our mass-produced world. It’s a way to value the value-less.