"The Missing Dog and the Shoemaker"

BFA Student

Major: Sculpture

Graduation Year: 2017

Artist Statement:

Materials provide a certain extension to my thoughts that cannot otherwise be interpreted via language or two dimensional representation. It’s the stark presence of an object in space that evokes a personified gesture irresistible to explore. It’s the fact that we can see, touch, and walk around something nonfunctional, yet recognizable and undefined. These sensory outputs come from my interest in seeing Minimalism in a contemporary, reworked, and elevated context—the theory that once color and materiality is applied to a Minimalist form, it no longer abides by the resistance of traditional Minimalist artists.
I’m figuring out structure as if it were skin and bones, starting with color and material, then determining its form and scale. This process provides an organic and feminine context to the cold essence of manufactured structures—a process unlike the approach of many sculptors from the era of minimal transcendance. Simplifying sculpture down to limited surfaces and color allows for the eye to not only see the structure as a whole, but to go further into concept and reveal properties that might otherwise get lost. Yet, I believe that a strong form can evoke emotion, color, and texture without trying too hard. It’s the balance of simplicity and intricacy that fuels my sculptural practice.