In my studio practice, the work tends towards reflections on environments I grew up in. My visual vocabulary might include flaking linoleum, astroturf, wormy tendrils of shag carpet, fistfuls of paper confetti, and other bits of middle American detritus. The content and approach to making is reflective of a mix of influences: my mother’s folk-ish ceramics/floral arrangements and crafts, high/low culture clash, the complicated character of the American Midwest, and the personal and cultural weight of everyday objects.

In my work I am oscillating between the very mundane and the uncanny, seeking a reflection of the very strange against the very normal. It is a reflection of the time and place that I have experienced as a person, and that I see in the world I observe from a physical and metaphorical “middle”.

In the past couple of years, I’ve been branching out from painting…and lately have interest in layered site-specific wall works and installation. I am beginning to especially appreciate the conversation between tangible material and painting. I’m fairly sure that I have my curatorial experiments to thank for this, and so consider my artist-as-curator role part of my practice as well. As an artist-curator, my interest is in seeing artists realize their specific artistic vision, and drawing connections in that vision to broader dialogue in contemporary culture.