ARTIST STATEMENT

I’ve been making art all my life. I constructed my first assemblage, “Liz Taylor’s Medicine Chest,” when I was twelve, and many years later, it was shown in the Williamsburg Folk Art Museum. “The Political Prisoner” was made from welded steel and stone, and was chosen as the cover for my high school’s literary magazine. “Keep Off,” another early work, has also been widely exhibited.

My work has always been intensely personal and political, reflecting my passions and my life experience. Through my art, I work out conflicts, personal history, family trauma, challenges, and joy. While some of the images have been controversial, my art always expresses who I am and what I think and believe.

Although my studies (MFA, University of Kansas) emphasized classical bronze casting, my work is eclectic. I have also worked in design, film, performance art, woodcarving, ceramics, painting, drawing, collage and more.

I use virtually every material for my work, including wood, twigs, bones and skeletons, mica, stone, metal, fabric, ribbon, thread, photographs, pages from old books and other found objects. I have incorporated my sculpture, drawings and costumes into my performance pieces.

I am currently working on a series of collage and assemblage in my Mill Valley, CA studio.