Totems & Talismans

These wall-based assemblages begin with materials that have lived; fragments of vintage adornment, worn textiles, raw canvas, thread, nails, and found objects carry their histories which are embraced and brought into new relationships with one another and with space and time, allowing transformation itself to become the subject. This work is a meditation - an honoring of what has come before - and a recognition of its presence and role within the process of transcendence.

This practice is rooted in the idea of alchemy and the possibility that what has been carried quietly, broken apart, or outgrown can be reconfigured into something unexpectedly lovely and whole. The works are reconstructions of materials gleaned from the deconstruction of previous things - transformation in real, physical terms. They are artifacts - proof of what existed before and a record of what exists now, before what is yet to come.

Using thread, yarn, nails, and collected materials, these assemblages have been constructed to exist somewhere between painting, textile, and artifact. Large areas of raw canvas remain exposed, allowing the potential of the blank space to become an active part of each composition. Suspended within plexiglass vitrines, the works often resemble relics or archaeological discoveries—objects that feel simultaneously ancient and contemporary.

I am interested in the relationship between refinement and rawness, weight and lightness, and the earthly alongside, and punctuated by, the distinct luminosity of man made things. Metallic surfaces flash beside humble fibers. Primitive forms coexist with delicate ornament and handwork. Each piece becomes an exploration of whether disparate materials can discover an unexpected harmony.

At the heart of my practice is the belief that transformation is an aesthetic act as much as a spiritual one. By bringing together materials collected over the course of a life, I am exploring how the old can become new without denying its history. The work is about what we preserve and the renewal that results from letting go.

Ultimately, I hope these pieces create a quiet space for contemplation. Rather than asking viewers to look only at the object, I hope they become aware of the space the object opens within themselves—a place of stillness and reverence, memory, possibility, and a subtle nudge within their own process of transformation.