My work as a whole is subjectively menacing. Many of my pieces are ambiguously shaped representations of flesh and hair. These elements should be familiar, yet when used in my pieces, can inspire strong feelings of repulsion and unease due to their displacement, magnification, and surreal distortion.
The catalyst of my work is largely based in my anxieties and personal history—especially around adolescence. I source my work from my issues of body perception, gender rituals, and the objectification of the human form. By isolating individual body parts in my work, I hope to simulate dissociation between the audience and their own bodies.
I work in weighty, skin-like materials such as wax, clay, and gelatin. By creating realistic, abject pieces, I create an extension of myself—a physical, semi-living host for my own bodily unease. Playing with different fleshy materials and distorting the body’s familiar forms and textures, I project my disquietude onto my audience.
Because I often work with special effects materials, my pieces become largely about the processes by which they are created. Each piece is made with painstakingly detailed work—layers of minute dots of makeup, the kneading of hard plasticine clay, slowly accumulated wax drippings, individually laid strands of hair.
Working in such repetitive techniques creates an experience of catharsis for me as an artist—these pieces are a representation of my own healing. Though they are morbidly visceral, they are made with care and intimacy.
Though people might view abject, contemporary art as violent and discomforting, I see my work as restorative, humorous, and calming and seek to share that with others. I have begun to explore more experiential pieces, incorporating sound art, performance, and audience participation. I often create works that are either large floor pieces viewers can sit next to, or objects that lack intimidation because of their small scale. I want my pieces to be harmless oddities- strange and unpleasant, yet lacking in aggression.
I hope to take my anxieties and create a strong, emotional presence with which audiences can bond. What was at first horrifying transforms into a thing of beauty and healing.