I create masks, sculpture and photographs expressing uncommon views of natural forms. With attention to detail I collaborate with materials such as alder bark or light on water to illuminate and revitalize our connection to the earth.
My work is a physical expression of what engages me when I walk in the woods near my home. I experience these moments as layers of interactions with the temperature, light, air, water, plants, insects, animals and inorganic elements in the landscape. I bring these relationships to my work and see how we can collaborate to create something new.
Whether it is photography, mask making or sculpture I like finding how things fit together in what I am creating. It is a discovery, an exchange between the direction already present in the materials or images, my vision and curiosity.
When I am making a mask, it is often the shape or texture of bark or piece of wood that appeals to me and leads to a starting place. The way piece of bark is rounded, twisted, curled, bent or broken by the influence of soil, sun, rain, cold, heat, wind, time and bugs on each piece of bark make these elements partners in the creation of the mask. I see my “Forest Guardian” masks as reminders of our role in protecting the environment which sustains us.
The way my work unfolds is determined by the choices I make about initial inspirations and by the new relationships between the elements that I discover as I go along. I make thousands of choices, some work, some don’t work, as I follow and respond to the material. I am grateful to collaborate with the bio-diversity of our world.
Writer, farmer and activist, Wendell Berry, describes the care of the earth as our most ancient and worthiest responsibility. I dedicate my art making in the service of that responsibility and my hopes for the health of our blue planet.