2021-ongoing Sunflowers
Currently my studio focus has shifted toward casting flowers which has been a long lasting theme in my work. Taking the fragile beauty of a bloom and casting it in the industrial ruggedness of rubber and various materials manifest both glamour and grit. From the more ephemeral presence of a bloom, the flowers take on an aggressive yet approachable presence when transformed into sculptures. They embody perseverance and mobility -- qualities we crave in these post pandemic years. I view the sculptures as living memories of each flower I am able to harvest in various growing seasons.
I’m guided by an intergenerational dialogue with Mary Miss, a pioneering ecofeminist artist from the 70s. Miss prioritized an unscripted experience for artist and viewer to engage in our surroundings that emphasizes being on site, reframing a view, and collaborating with community. I am guided by Miss’ words: “Priorities: Breathing space, human scale, and first-hand experience.” Sculpture has the ability to give back and empower these fundamental rights.
I’m not looking for complete fidelity in the casting process. The flowers become something different with the trace of process and material transformation. But the flowers remain a recognized messenger, accessible to many. Sculpture has a way of using it’s physicality to talk about things that aren’t physical at all. My hope is to elicit a felt response in the viewer that confronts the resilience of the natural world with the sentimentality that we bring to it.
My process also generates drawings and imagery. In the same way that the sunflower molds capture a literal flower, photographic collages and drawings also act to preserve a moment. In this way, my work heightens literal memories from the urban and natural landscape. My most recent flowers begin with the generosity of growing partners. I view both the sculptures and the drawings as an archive of sunflowers that are grown and harvested from gardens all over the Boston area- from plots in the Fenway to private gardens in the suburbs, to farm collectives in the outer suburbs.
