Surface, object, space

Considered primarily a form of painting, my practice adopts the languages of sculpture and installation to explore abstract constructions of personal and societal hierarchies. In this current body of work, I am crocheting architectural forms that blur the distinctions between surface, object, and space. Whether occupying pictorial space or actual space, simple patterned units coalesce into emergent forms through repetition and accumulation. I am drawn to malleable materials that allow for an indexical registration of the force of my hands and body. Working in a wide range of materials including paper, mylar, fabric, foam, plastic, sheet metal, wire, monofilament, and paint, I create works by pushing these mediums to their material limits. Moving in, around, and through the pieces, the viewer becomes an active participant in relation to spatial elements, where interactions act as propositions for new meaning. In this thesis, I have chosen to present a collection of handwritten notes taken over the past two years from conversations and musings shared with my professors and peers. I view these notes, much like I view my material selections, as a source that provides an indexical trace of my working process. The exchanges included here point to moments of change in my work as I began to explore the languages of sculpture and installation. The work I produced during my time here at RISD comes in many different shapes and sizes. In retracing the moments in the studio that brought me to where I am, I find that issues pertaining to intersectionality continue to resurface in different forms, to create a more tenuous yet more satisfying web of relations. It is my hope that these writings come together to reflect a studio practice that prefers questions over answers and a process of making that privileges possibilities over certainties