STATEMENT:

Mining domestic landscapes for materials–pillows, chairs, worn fabrics, plates, sports jerseys, holiday flags, quilts–I deconstruct recognizable items and transform them in unfamiliar ways, often pushing the boundaries of quilting traditions and the materiality of cloth.

Having grown up in a conservative, midwest suburb, I am interested in the perceived homogeneity of spaces and people. What does it mean to poke holes in the illusion of sameness?  How can we disrupt the way things have always been and insert more nuanced narratives? 

I often use repetition in my work, whether repeated, physical gestures or visual patterns. The repetition provides a ground from which to depart, reflecting ways we operate within and deviate against institutional expectations that are placed on our bodies and behaviors. In the studio I probe and process conflicting ideas–discomfort, joy, conformity, aspirations and failure–and encourage viewers to question power structures and cyclical ways we perform within everyday systems.