As an artist, I explore diverse mediums to examine the intimate and intangible relationship amid inception, inspiration, and creation.
As a designer, I seek the balance between form and function, consumers and creators, intention and interpretation.
Ultimately, my oeuvre exists in the dynamic between these two crafts and the investigations they inspire.
Academically, I studied fashion history in the costume design department at UW-Madison and researched the development of style with respect to a continuously changing interpretation of “self” and how this is reflected in the dialogue between designers and consumers. I examined this topic through a historical lens with a contemporary eye. I evaluated how social, political and historical context influences fashion trends on a grand scale by simultaneously affecting the psychology of the community and the landscape in which it exists. These interests have merged and manifested themselves in my work. My art glimpses into the mystery and motivation behind the origin of creative impulse and redefines the relationship between the inner and the outer, personal and private, collective and individual. Plato’s Theory of Forms inspires me, that ideas, not the material world known to us through sensation, possess the highest and most fundamental reality. Our own perceptions, visions, and thoughts are the most constructed reality because they include the metaphysical and subconscious. Therefore, the physical existence of the piece is only half the work. Only through its interaction with the viewer or wearer does the art come to life. On a larger scale, I believe this relationship illustrates our collective reality within the natural creation of our physical environment – shaped partly by math, science, biology and chemistry – and partly by the cumulative human history we share. The vast cultures, traditions and histories of each and every person enrich our collective consciousness.
It is through design that I integrate functionality with these ideas to breathe life into my unique perspective. You have a relationship with every item in your closet. This relationship is cultivated over time and as your tastes, your mind, and your attitude evolve so too does your style. Ultimately, you both shape the world around you and are shaped by it, and your closet becomes a subconscious language in this constant dialogue. As a designer, I consider it my challenge to interpret and express the zeitgeist of today in respect to the rapidly changing world in which we live.
The overarching factor of the 21st century has been the gradual dissolution of the Ego. The disintegration of nationalism, ethnocentrism, racism, sexism, and anthropocentrism is manifesting greater awareness of ourselves, our communities, and our environment. The birth of the internet and the accessibility of technology has made information readily available to all. Consequently, political and corporate leaders control the narrative of our society less, while we control it more. While some people are still manipulated by divisive headlines that distract from larger problems, many are attempting to open their minds and hearts. Provocative, fear-based tactics, rooted in low-vibrational energies attempt to stimulate anxiety, despair, and doubt in order to destabilize and undermine our democracy.
It is individual, single-pointed consciousness that connects us to the macrocosm. We are co-creators in our experience as we live in this toroidal, holographic, 3-Dimensional reality. Our future is a constant wave of potential that we alone make real, in the same way light is both wave and particle until we observe it. Our observations, perceptions, and actions dictate our shared humanity and we continuously evolve in our consensus about what is acceptable and what is not. Thus only we can change the world by way of our own energy, our perceptions, and the way we interact with each other, ourselves, and our environment. By choosing to look within, we stand a better chance at working together to improve our world without.
My work explores human consciousness, energy, and the destruction of duality among perceived cultural and cosmic barriers. This exploration drives my search for the origin of inspiration, the process of creation, and the life artwork acquires through individual and collective interpretation. My interest in fashion, in sustainable modes of production, and in work that reflects our changing values as we emerge into an era of globalism, encourages my desire to create wearable art. Through the avenue of consumer culture I hope to stimulate conversation, provide pieces that examine the evolution of humanity, and spread good energy to those that resonate with it.