"In Art there is only one thing that counts: the thing you can't explain."
- Georges Braque
I was born and raised in New York. As a child, I watched my father build child-sized airplanes and tree houses and was inspired by his imagination, craftsmanship, and joy in creating.
When I was a bit older, the Metropolitan Museum of Art beckoned with carved African masks and Islamic metalwork, while the Museum of Modern Art drew me to twentieth century artists like Klee, Calder, and Ernst, whose humor, tactility, and playfulness affect me to this day. Meanwhile, a trip to Mexico piqued my interest in the sculpture and textiles of Central and South America.
Studying Jung's writings on archetypal images in college put all of these art forms in an intriguing light. At the same time, I began to study weaving with Chicago fiber artist Irene Suyeoka, and these influences crept into my work in fiber. In addition, I was drawn to the work of fiber artists like Anni Albers, Lenore Tawney, and the quilters of Gee's Bend. Later, while living in Boston, I took classes at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Massachusetts College of Art.
Texture holds an important place in my work, and its presence in nature has always enchanted me. Growing up near the beach, I played with sand, seaweed, and stones. In the woods, the rough irregularities of bark and the softness of moss enchanted me. I like to explore intersections of the natural and man-made worlds: where grass emerges from cracks in the pavement, and birds nest under the eaves of buildings. As I remember the textures I have encountered, I use paint, thread, and found objects to create marks, puckers, knots, ridges, rips, and "sutures" in the fabric. Grids give way to serendipity as, in life, underlying structures respond to change as things unfold.
My work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the country, including Mills Gallery in Boston, Harvard University’s Holyoke Gallery, New England Institute of Art, the Museum of Design in Atlanta, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville, Haen Gallery in Asheville, NC, FRANK Gallery in Chapel Hill, NC, and Touchstone Gallery in Washington DC.
When I was a bit older, the Metropolitan Museum of Art beckoned with carved African masks and Islamic metalwork, while the Museum of Modern Art drew me to twentieth century artists like Klee, Calder, and Ernst, whose humor, tactility, and playfulness affect me to this day. Meanwhile, a trip to Mexico piqued my interest in the sculpture and textiles of Central and South America.
Studying Jung's writings on archetypal images in college put all of these art forms in an intriguing light. At the same time, I began to study weaving with Chicago fiber artist Irene Suyeoka, and these influences crept into my work in fiber. In addition, I was drawn to the work of fiber artists like Anni Albers, Lenore Tawney, and the quilters of Gee's Bend. Later, while living in Boston, I took classes at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Massachusetts College of Art.
Texture holds an important place in my work, and its presence in nature has always enchanted me. Growing up near the beach, I played with sand, seaweed, and stones. In the woods, the rough irregularities of bark and the softness of moss enchanted me. I like to explore intersections of the natural and man-made worlds: where grass emerges from cracks in the pavement, and birds nest under the eaves of buildings. As I remember the textures I have encountered, I use paint, thread, and found objects to create marks, puckers, knots, ridges, rips, and "sutures" in the fabric. Grids give way to serendipity as, in life, underlying structures respond to change as things unfold.
My work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the country, including Mills Gallery in Boston, Harvard University’s Holyoke Gallery, New England Institute of Art, the Museum of Design in Atlanta, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville, Haen Gallery in Asheville, NC, FRANK Gallery in Chapel Hill, NC, and Touchstone Gallery in Washington DC.