The making of my sculptures includes extensive walking and scavenging in the landscapes where I live, collecting natural elements such as rocks, roots, fungi and logs. These artifacts from nature suggest their own stories and what slowy emerges are cultural, and mythical narratives. The insect hollowed interior of a maple log will suggest a womb, a witch hazel branch with gnarly projections becomes a hand and the blood red, new growth on blueberry bushes transforms into veins for a piece about the heart. Ultimately, I function like an ecological archeologist, reconstructing lost images and voices that remind us of our inherent connection to the earth.
When I work with a community my working process is opened to include the participation of all those who want to be involved - like an open system in nature. The process of collaboration and shared creation is as important as the final product. Like the elements from the landscape that come with their own history, I encourage the human participants to find and share their own stories in response to our project. I consider the strengths and characteristics of the people I work with as extensions of the combination of materials that I construct with; Social design and sculptural design are one. Together we discover or create new compelling stories and images about ourselves and the natural world that sustains us.
