Artist's Statement

Some of my found object art pieces start with a visceral attraction to the materials. Other pieces develop from claiming objects as symbols to be incorporated into a system of meaning. Using primarily reclaimed material is part of my broader system of meaning.

When I choose elements I am seeing beyond the dirt and ugliness to a world of beautiful or compelling patterns, gestures, shapes and colors. I look for what is useful in what others have judged valueless. I want to investigate and uncover some order in the chaos. I solve problems of how to change and present things so that others might share in something of what I see.

Everything around us comes from somewhere and goes somewhere when we discard it. Often, communities of living beings of all kinds suffer losses in the process. I want to accept responsibility for some of this. I want to acknowledge the costs. I want to put more value on man-made and man-broken things, and say that it does matter. I care about what happens to people, places and things. Everything is connected.