Home/Life

Solo Exhibition, Artspace, Raleigh, NC // 2024

Mixed media installation // various dimensions // acrylic on reclaimed mylar with thread and chain, mixed media collage on wood panel, community collaborative installation, community collaborative audio installation

***This project was supported by a grant from VAE’s Snapdragon Fund, an Andy Warhol Fund partner

Artist Statement

I am a Raleigh, North Carolina-based installation artist whose creative journey is an intimate exploration of joy, memory, and the complexities of identity. Drawing inspiration from personal experiences, I create large-scale installations that amplify hard-won moments of happiness; often in a vivid, hyperbolic form. Through my work I delve into the fragility of joy, the significance of gratitude, and the ever-changing nature of happiness.

My artistic practice is deeply rooted in my identity as a bisexual woman, mother, and wife from the American South. Through the use of techniques traditionally associated with women's craft I transform ordinary materials into monumental artworks. I am drawn to both the idea that I can play with scale and take up space historically reserved for male artists without conforming my materials to those historical patterns, and to the concept that these small actions - paint, cut, sew, repeat, can add up to something so large and immersive. This approach speaks to the broader concept of how, with consistency, our own actions, no matter how small, can affect change and that we all have the power to make the world a better place.Metaphorically representing this ripple effect, my colorful and kinetic work plays with the reflective and refractive properties of light, casting colorful shadows beyond the physical boundaries of the installation.

Each piece is a meditation on intentionality and resilience, meticulously crafted through countless small actions, aiming to capture and cultivate joy in my own life and the lives of the viewer. In the exhibition Home/Life, I explore concepts of place and belonging, particularly as they relate to the queer community. This work is rooted in my experiences as a queer mother navigating inclusive homemaking amidst of the anti-LGBTQ+ backlash spreading across our country. With each installation, I aim to ignite a sense of possibility and empowerment, reminding us all of our capacity to shape a future filled with compassion and unity.