First Principles and Ordinances

Abstract

Garments/fabric are a central theme in my work. Their inherent intimacy and privacy conceals and signifies both the absence/loss and presence of the wearer. In the studio, I investigate in a ritualistic and meditative manner that defines the work as it becomes imbedded with personal symbols and allegory. My objects and imagery gain their full meaning over the course of 'the making.’ I use honey, molasses, flour, oranges and onions because of their color, texture and ability to saturate all of our senses. Wax, clay slip and rust work in a similar way - morphing from liquid to solid enables them the power to coat, drip and embalm. I immerse, coat, wash and scrub materials as a way of anointing the resulting objects; their presence is at once sacrosanct and tainted. The repetition and self mandated tasks that characterize my private, cathartic ritual are best described as an order of haptic ablution.