Most of my work in the past has been in the form of wearable sculpture – a dress made from gelato cups, an apron made from many pockets, a bathing-type cap sewn together from cast latex ears. All of my pieces have been an attempt to use clothing as a metaphor to drive whatever particular concept I was working toward at the time.

This journey stopped at wearable sculpture for some time with pieces that were worn by models and some that were hung on mannequins. That directive study has led to my current explorations, which deal more with the essential qualities of clothing. I am thinking about how far away from clothing could I make an object and have it still read clothing to a viewer. What about clothing tells a person that it is clothing? Is it an armhole? Is it a buckle or a zipper? These are the questions that I am driving at. This has to do more expressly with the language of clothing. I am working to pare down what clothing actually speaks of and address this in my work. The idea of a society in which we cover ourselves based more on current fashion trends than necessity also has issue in my work. I am creating objects that blur the lines between clothing, fashion and functional tools or gear – asking the questions of why do we need what we need and to what purpose are we seeking our coverings.

Some of the artists that I am looking at are Andrea Zittel, and Lucy Orta. These artists are also making clothing and using it alongside design in order to get to the bare essentials of clothing and create all-inclusive survival kits. I am interested in the other end of this exploration – I am interested in clothing as utter excess. There is the idea that if marketed properly, people would be convinced that they need anything and everything. My work is currently dealing with the issues of marketing to the masses and the various forms that it can take in current culture as well as the reasons behind this.

Formally, I work with fabrics such as latex and vinyl and more currently I am integrating armatures into my pieces. I am an object maker, and although I am open to exploring more installation and performance work, I do believe that the object will continue to play an integral part in my work, regardless of what other directions I may explore. Much of my work is very time consuming and in my research, I am often exploring new ways of working and handling materials in more industrious and efficient ways. Craftsmanship is of the utmost importance to me and above all else; it is something that I am never willing to sacrifice.