Because Painting

Born in Nebraska, USA Lives and works in Michigan, USA I create iterations of paintings, drawings, and relief sculptures by merging traditional art-making methods and materials with ordinary objects. I utilize flattened boxes that previously held consumer goods as patterns, forming networks of lines, spaces, and shapes. Accentuated areas create moments where lines contract to cut narrow paths through expansive shapes, similar to a seam allowance in clothing construction. Encircling my studio practice is my early appreciation for textiles. My mom taught me to sew at a young age. Working with my hands, I understood the magic of transforming a two-dimensional plane into three dimensions through seams, tucks, darts, and pleats. My affinity for flattened boxes stems from my fondness for sewing patterns. I note similarities between the materials. Both allow for a transformation from two to three dimensions, are disposable by design, and create or house items deemed worthy of value. Unlike clothing construction, my method embraces chance, having no specific outcome in mind, and I labor to unearth a direction. This approach allows me to react to the marks and shapes before me, carve order out of chaos, and be mindful of the process. There is an undeniable link between a fabric vocabulary and my mom in my studio practice. Her contribution to her family went unnoticed; this led me to employ sewing and textile cues to signify "women's work," denoting minimized gender visibility in society. Caretaking, domestic labor, and supporting roles form the seams that hold society together yet are overlooked and undervalued.