Artist Statement
I create sculptures and installations that pose questions of residential land use, our connection to the environment, and our uncertain future. My research toward this inquiry centers how we locate ourselves within the increasingly built world, thereby inviting viewers to re-evaluate their perspective on these issues through a lens of criticality. Using the material language of U.S. housing construction such as plywood, polystyrene and paint as well as architectural model building details such as artificial turf and PLA filament, my populated tableaus prompt viewers to consider their impact on the landscape as an observer. By placing the spectator as an agent of change amidst a fraught setting, my intermedia practice challenges our relationship to home, landscape and place.
The scales, systems, and structures of our world fascinates me. My process begins with site visits and interviews with residential communities symbolic of our imprint on the environment—from Levittown, NY, often recognized as the first American suburb, to Bratislava, Slovakia, home to the largest communist-era prefabricated homes in Europe. I apply my findings toward the production of sculptures that convey the impact of these systems. In my large-scale installations, I etch digitally-sourced maps to produce cascading, petroglyph-like landscapes that visualize what sprawl might look like far into the future. My miniature sculptures of houses examine the aspirational dynamics of residential construction. As a result, my practice questions how our built world contributes to dramatic class divides.