Ancient Future

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2021I explore human experience through the lens of the natural world while calling attention to preservation and its changing role. Encrusted with crystals my work explores fossilized fragments of our everyday world that speak to our current place in time and our connection to the natural world. I have an endless fascination with the natural world. There is a complex yet simple relationship I am drawn to between the nature around us as well as the Nature within us. My work grows in a space foraged between my understanding of nature and Nature; it is this intersection from which I create. As I explore the blurred line between what is and isn’t natural my attention is drawn to the many moments that surround us that often go unnoticed. Much like Nature, artists have a process for everything that is created. Understanding that process helps me to better understand my own purpose within making. There is a natural method of inquiry that drives my work; a methodology to the way I investigate and organize the world around me. Utilizing a blend of both organic and synthetic materials and methodologies, I am able to create work that questions the viewers perception of what is and is not natural. The use of sound, kinesthetics, and viewer activation, guides my work into a realm of tactile, immersive experience. The ability to reveal the unseen, natural phenomenon by integrating the tactile nature of the physical world aids the viewer in examining their place in the natural world. Through my research I explore concepts of how the human psyche functions as a part of Nature. This conceptual material offers me a pool of symbolic language that allows me to interpret metaphorical imagery from nature to illuminate the abstract concepts of my own life experiences. Observing these intricately related recurring patterns has allowed me to adopt methods used by Nature— a laboratory tested by time. My thesis work oscillates between realms where past and future converge as I work in a way that pays respect to materials and the passage of time