The fear of forgetting and being forgotten is practically universal. I am interested in how contemporary communication and digital photography have altered our memories, social interactions, and psychology. I use the connecting thread of memory by incorporating objects and materials that are imbued with nostalgia or sentimentality. Aesthetic references to memory, degradation, ephemera, and family photographs are common themes in my layered, multi-media works. It is my hope that interactions with my work help to reinforce a physical and emotional connection to each other and the space around us.

2021-2022

Gonna Write You A Letter

Gonna Write You A Letter is an ongoing series of multi-media collage and assemblage works. Each work in the series is a line from a letter I wrote to my younger self. These works are largely composed of artifacts from my past.

2019-2020

I’ve Got You, 3

I’ve Got You is a series of multi-media collage and assemblage works that spans four years. The series is broken up into three sections that show the evolution of the work. I’ve Got You began in 2017 as a series of paintings. Each work was first painted to accurately depict a family photograph. Parts of each painting were then erased to exclude that which I can’t remember. The series then evolved. Painted elements became fabric that was upholstered to the substrate. The stuffed figures became more universally relatable in their ambiguity. They were created to be tactile and composed of materials that are understood to be imbued with memories: pieces of aprons, table cloths, and clothing. The final iteration of the I’ve Got You series highlights the erasure and degradation of memory. Each work in this iteration of the series is created on pieces of a broken upholstered chair. Overall, this series examines how familial, cultural, and collective memories are affected by mediated images and attempts to reconstruct a more honest image from the broken pieces.

2017-2018

I’ve Got You, 2

acrylic, fabric, foam, and Poly-fill on canvas 12”X12”

acrylic, fabric, foam, and Poly-fill on canvas 18”X14”

acrylic, fabric, foam, and Poly-fill on canvas 14”X11”

acrylic, foam, fabric, buttons, paper, and foil on panel 22”X35”

2016-2017

I’ve Got You

acrylic and charcoal on canvas 16.75” X 13”

acrylic, gold dust, and charcoal on canvas 14”X13”

colored pencil and acrylic on board 17.75”X19”

2017

S.O.S

SOS
25”WX72”HX6”D each
Blacklight, electrical relay, wood, paper, ink, pencil — SOS 25”WX72”HX6”D each Blacklight, electrical relay, wood, paper, ink, pencil

Elizabeth Christ 2017
23"X30"X6" — Elizabeth Christ 2017 23"X30"X6"

Mary Anne MacLeod 2017
23"X30"X6" — Mary Anne MacLeod 2017 23"X30"X6"

2016

Trouble Saying the Simplest Things

Trouble Saying the Simplest Things is a series of embroidered works about how hard it can be to communicate thoughts or feelings after being gaslit.

Don otf all apa rt
embroidered fabric 5”X16” — Don otf all apa rt embroidered fabric 5”X16”

Don ot ext me a nymo re
embroidered welding glove 6.5”X12” — Don ot ext me a nymo re embroidered welding glove 6.5”X12”

Ya snot hing othim
embroidered shoelace 10”X1" — Ya snot hing othim embroidered shoelace 10”X1"

Ilo vey oun ow
Hand embroidery on wool 9”X5”X3” — Ilo vey oun ow Hand embroidery on wool 9”X5”X3”

Soigu Es Syo URnot Com Ing B Ack
.5”X46” hand embroidery on golden shoelace — Soigu Es Syo URnot Com Ing B Ack .5”X46” hand embroidery on golden shoelace

Public Art

2018, talkPoPc Tent: Philadelphia City Hall

talkPOPc strives to satisfy the natural urge to develop deeper, more intellectual thoughts. As an art project that exists in the interface between art and philosophy, talkPOPc explores particular topics. talkPOPc gives not only the traditional voice of the individual artist, but broadens that discussion to include other individual participants in one-to-one conversations with philosophers, emphasizing not just what we say but how we listen. talkPOPc reconstructs the ever-fluid and enjoyable social process of thought acquisition.

2010, PARTICIPATE: 333 S. Broad st. Philadelphia

The University of the Arts awarded me the Public Art Initiative Grant to create an interactive diorama. PARTICIPATE was a recreation of a framed 5”X7” family photograph of my sister’s birthday, blown up to 5’X7’X12’. The project had its own Facebook page where participants could upload their photographs with the sculpture. The project was about the intimacy and universal connectedness in sharing memories.

Installations

2017, Is That All There Is?, Installation for Loved to Pieces exhibition, Kitchen Table Gallery, Philadelphia

A moving wall was placed at the back end of the gallery to create a long, narrow hallway. The outside of that hallway featured a 10’ X 4’ mixed media collage entitled Burying the Old Mes. Inside that hallway was a white, translucent rectangle with a step-stool. Viewers were invited to peer into the rectangle to discover a stop-motion animation video entitled, Is That All There Is? after the Peggy Lee song.

2015, Reflecting Pool: Forcefield Project Invitational, Maken Studios, Philadelphia

Reflecting Pool was a collaborative installation made by Jessie Clark (CHER Co-Founder) and myself. The project featured over 400 recycled bottles with hand-written messages in them and videos projected onto a pool of water. The projected videos were portraits of individuals who were all asked to share their first memories on camera. Clark then wrote 400 messages based on the videos. Viewers were invited to take a message from a bottle and place it in the water to watch the ink dissolve within the video projection.

2015, For Crying Out Loud

Installed at the Digital Fringe Festival, CRUX Space Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, and at Assemble Gallery in Pittsburgh, PA

2010, December, 1991: Rosenwald Wolf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

An interactive installation that featured sculpture and video work about memory.

2009, Killing Time: Rosenwald Wolf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

A performance, video, and interactive multi-media installation wherein collaborator, Lauren McCarty and I occupied Rosenwald Wolf Gallery for one week. We nested and meticulously recorded every beloved item that we put into the space. We then removed it all, leaving a white seating area. Gallery visitors were invited to watch the video of our installation on a small tv, peruse the absent items in a catalogue wherein we assigned value to each one based on their importance to us, and take pictures with disposable cameras. Projections of the removed objects accumulated on the emptied seating area. The only parts remaining for viewers were our records of what the space had been and the anticipated memory of the human interactions in the photographs.