Artist's Statement

In this body of work, post-consumer terrain, I use worn and moth-eaten sweaters and other fabric scraps, yarns, and threads to create soft-sculpture imitations of stones, mosses, low grass, and lichens, and I carve plaster to extend, or “repair” cut off branches, roots and stumps. Low growing plants and fungi draw me into their tiny forests. I’m captivated by the beautiful evidence of nature’s persistence, whether it’s offcuts of pruning or moss in the cracks of a city sidewalk. The iterative process of using fiber to imitate elements from the landscape is like drawing; lines of coarse yarn and little stiches build up in parts and layers, slowly growing into something playfully convincing. The works are not intended as trompe l’oeil, while a passing scan of the work may briefly fool the viewer, any length of looking the work reveals the materials. The soft textures and light weight of the wool rocks contrasts and thereby emphasizes the physical qualities of rocks real and imagined, inviting viewers to remember their own experiences in nature and look a little more closely at their surroundings.