statement

My work expresses aspects and constructs of identity through employing a physical drawing line, tangible mark making, and blurring the boundaries of artistic disciplines. I view identity as a fragmented conglomerate influenced by one's personal experiences and interactions with social expectations.  Through an analytical process of observation, I investigate my own identity by compulsively examining myself in comparison to social expectations. As the individual cannot be understood without her relationship to the many, my process highlights the roles that I play in relation to the collective of society.  I take into account the many variations of social constructs, gender roles, and stereotypes that are imposed upon my identity, and question their impact upon myself and their relevance within society. The result of this practice manifests itself in the form of art works made of many parts.  Each work displays an accumulation of physical pieces that unite to emphasize the architecture of my identity.

My works tends to have an open-ended question or statement that propels their initial formation.  They continuously grow, multiply, and accumulate to become drawings in space.  By removing the traditional tools of drawing, the immediacy of the process commonly associated with drawing is increased with materials such as wire and thread.  There is a greater degree of tangible interaction with the work, as I am no longer separated from a line by the tip of a pencil, but physically manipulating the movement of the line by hand.  My process evolves from the formal aspects of drawing: line, mark-making, value, shape, and form. Whether a line or mark is drawn on a wall with charcoal, travels through space in wire, or grows within an animation, it retains visual principles of drawing. The rigid flatness of the traditional drawing page is often challenged by my use of the wall as part of the work. The wall provides possibilities of the drawing extending and stretching into spatial forms while also incorporating shadows.  Even in purely three-dimensional works, I view each section of the piece as its own composition that cuts through space.  While I embrace formal drawing elements, the conception of my work denies the boundaries of traditional disciplines. I see my process as lying within the grey areas between artistic practices, taking from and tying together elements commonly associated with various disciplines.

bio

born: 1980, Los Alamos, New Mexico

education

Colorado State University, MFA, 2011
University of New Mexico, BFA, 2008

selected awards/honors

University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Stipend for site specific installation,  2012.
Colorado State Graduate Fellowship, Colorado State University, 2008

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Human Climate, Wabash College, Crawfordsville, IN, 2012
Collection of "Others", Ice Cube Gallery, Denver, CO 2012

selected group shows

Bright Young Things, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO, 2012
Mind Pool, Next Gallery, Denver, CO, 2012
When We Are:  Tectonic Shifts and the Dissolution of Boundaries, DeLuce Gallery of Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, MO, 2012
Icebreaker 2.0, Ice Cube Gallery, Denver, CO, 20122