My studio is in Peninsula, Ohio in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. I have resided and worked in Ohio for 17 years. I received my degree from the University of Iowa in sculpture and worked in my dad’s ceramic studio for ten years. It was in my father’s studio that I learned my appreciation of three-dimensional space. It was also my dad’s non-sentimental nature of tossing/ burning all things deemed unnecessary clutter that rooted my deep need to covet and collect almost everything. I studied ceramics in college and love, really, all things clay, thus also why I have an awesome collection of cups, mugs and unomi. I however never felt like clay was the medium by which I wanted to express myself. With found objects and assemblage I truly discovered my voice. The objects I lean towards always seem to have lived and have a story to tell….some objects are complete memories for me and just as a writer will string words together to create a work I assemble objects to create my art. I love the fact that like words, smells and colors; objects hold meaning and memories. The wonderful thing is that sometimes the viewer has similar or completely different ones then my own. I feel that found object assemblage is just like painting in 3D or perhaps, collaging. For me, it is a better process because I don’t start with a blank canvas and I get to move my objects around without having to “paint” over something I don’t like or have to wait for paint to dry. Often in my studio I will have three or four different pieces going at the same time. I start sometimes with an idea first and search for the objects that are going to express that idea or I start with an object or several objects that shout so loudly that they need to be together.
I appreciate the Ohio Art League for the opportunity to talk about my art and to show some of what I do. I was also honored to have received second place on their Spring 2020 Juried show. I look forward to seeing art in person again and thought that it was really good for OAL to continue to support artists through an online show.
