My work dives deep into the cracks, the gaps between the rustic natural land and the concrete confines of man. It is the interface between earth and man that is in constant flux. From a plant springing up in the space between the curb and the street, to the trimming of trees to make way for electrical poles, my art seeks to identify and document that interface. It is indeed the gap between objects, which allows space for future growth.
I’ve always longed for the era of bell-bottoms and Afros. Having a mop of curly hair myself, and growing up in the silky straight and layered era of the ‘90s, I yearned for a time when curls were cool. In documenting the colors and patterns that were once in vogue, I seek to memorialize the neglected styles of a bygone era. Beyond the colors and patterns, are fabrics and textures long forgotten.
I lived in a part of San Diego that was quickly developing. Development companies took the city by storm and began tearing down unique facades only to replace them with monotonous condominiums. For my undergraduate thesis I sought to document this transition and preserve these original structures before they received their makeover.
A homage to Man Ray and his Rayograms, these images play with a modern and feminine vision. Using vibrant color and texture the graphic nature of each scene leaps from the flat paper.
While traveling in places such as Costa Rica, Thailand and Israel, I became inspired by the simple objects that have been re-used to serve a greater purpose in their second life; from the smallest of creatures, like the snails who turned a bottle cap into a home, to the toilets that now house lovely flowers rather than discard waste. So much “trash” is merely discarded which ironically make its way into the loveliest of locales.
I’ve spent my life in California traversing the main north-south artery that connects the rural mountains to the bustling city of the Bay Area where I now live. Below the trees, lies an eccentric economy that may soon become extinct. Roadside attractions, touting redwood tree houses, a drive-thru tree, and a myriad of redwood themed trinkets are enough to fill the pockets and trunks of most traveling vacationers along the Northern California state park route.
During the time I was living in Eastern Europe, the area was developing rapidly. Money was being pumped into infrastructure to compete with the West, and to keep up with the tourists. I became interested in the intersection of infrastructure and architecture. How do older buildings adapt to the awkward neon additions of today? As the country itself was transitioning the landscape was starting to reflect it.
