ARTIST STATEMENT

I close my eyes to bring you back
if only in my wildest dreams.

I collect specimens that wash up on the Lake Erie shore, strike windows, get hit on the road, attach themselves to dead or fallen trees, or grow on forest floors, as in the case of mushrooms. I pose them and mold them in a manner that magnifies detail, texture and fragility, in an attempt to make them as translucent as possible. I create casts from these molds, in either resin, porcelain clay, or cement. I transform them via unexpected arrangements on light boxes, in a diorama format (art installation), turning their original identities into something magical, yet absurd. These findings guide my entire art practice, as I work to revive the unliving.

I have been collecting, as well as birdwatching, for a number of years. I am witnessing an alarming rise in the numbers of specimens available for collecting. Numerous people in my community have expressed similar views and concerns. They have taken it upon themselves to contribute to my collection. Needless to say, this collection has grown by leaps and bounds. I am picking up the pieces and trying to put them back together again as best as I can.

We think we are taking care of the planet when in reality the planet takes care of us…one way or another!

BIO

I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and had the good fortune of taking art classes at the now defunct Cleveland Supplementary Center. I graduated from Baldwin-Wallace University with a Bachelors of Art, and since then consider myself an installation artist. I furthered my education by volunteering for 5 years in the Physical Anthropology casting lab at the Cleveland Natural History Museum. I received a Medical Sculpture: Advanced Facial Reconstruction certification from Case Western Reserve University under the tutelage of Betty Pat Gatliff. In 2015, I was granted an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award. However, my true love is birding. I moved to a bird migratory route and opened an art gallery and studio in Vermilion Ohio, where I comb the shoreline, river and woods for inspiration.