Interning at Anderson Ranch, 2019

Statement

     I grew up in a New York City apartment, surrounded by concrete and steel. Perhaps because of this, I have always prioritized the presence of green spaces in my life, while also considering and questioning the boundaries we draw between nature and society. The binary of “natural” vs. “manmade” so often defines how we engage with our environment, whether it is through attempting to control it or romanticizing it. 
     In working with wood, I am consistently confronting this dichotomy. Each board’s inconsistencies and individuality necessitate developing an intimacy with the wood, as I shape it into something new. These qualities also ensure it is impossible to forget that what is now a board, was once a living tree.
​     Simultaneously dominating the material and revering its beauty creates an interesting tension, which I react to through my functional work. My designs directly reference the form of plants and have drawn inspiration from Karl Blossfeldt’s photographs of buds and leaves. I use this biological aesthetic to both distort and define the line between each piece’s newly human function and its indelible identity as a plant.
     Working with wood has emboldened my art and empowered me as an individual in multiple ways. Through my sculptural work, I address my experience with trauma and the complexities of privately harboring and publicly sharing its emotional reverberations. Ultimately, I seek to call attention to the implications of relying on individual trauma to catalyze social change, a practice that places the burden of vulnerability on the survivor and leaves them open to emotional voyeurism. I aspire to foster solidarity with other survivors while also questioning how the public gaze often flattens stories of trauma.
EDUCATION
EXHIBITIONS
  • Above and Below, Dedee Shattuck Gallery, Westport MA, 2022. 
  • Newport Biennial 2022, Newport Art Museum, Rhode Island, 2022. 
  • WHOLENESS: 17th Annual Small Works Show, 440 Gallery, Brooklyn NY, 2021-2022. 
  • Concurrence, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport ME, 2021. 
  • Alumni & Fellows, 2021, Messler Gallery at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport ME, 2021. 
  • We All Belong, Gallery Undercroft, New York City NY, 2019.
  • Interim, Patton-Malott Gallery at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village CO, 2019.
  • Bitchin*, Macalester College Senior Art Exhibition, Law Warschaw Gallery, St. Paul MN, 2018.
  • Macalester Juried Student Art Show, Law Warschaw Gallery, St. Paul MN, 2015-2018.
  • SACI Juried Student Art Show, Jules Maidoff Gallery, Florence, Italy, 2016. 

GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS
  • Endowed Fellowship (upcoming), Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport ME, Fall 2022. 
  • The Furniture Society Educational Grant, to attend a workshop at the John C Campbell School of Craft, 2022. 
  • Dewitt Wallace Distinguished Scholarship, Merit based, Macalester College, 2014-2018. 
  • Distinguished Merit Award in Studio Art, Awarded for Comprehensive Achievement in Studio Art, Macalester College, 2018. ​

PUBLISHED WORK

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