As a child I was always making things—books, dolls, potions, puppets, imaginary worlds. But my favorite thing was reading and writing. I didn’t think of myself as an artist. I studied psychology as an undergraduate but fell in love with photography and developing my own film and being in the darkroom. Since then, I have simply followed my interests and taken classes in many different art forms, including drawing, printmaking, bookmaking, digital arts, puppetry, jewelry, and more. Over the years I have received awards for my work in radio, film, and writing, and exhibited photography and mixed media artworks in solo and group shows. I moved to Racine from the East Coast in 2017 and am inspired everyday living by the lake and sharing a life of creativity and love with my partner.

My work explores time, memory, grief, childhood, and the alchemizing power of story. I play with textiles, weaving, natural dyeing, paper, words, film, printmaking, found objects, sardine cans, trash, puppets, etc.. I see possibilities in everything around me. Anything and everything can be a puppet or artistic material.

Basically every room of the house is my studio. Sometimes I work in the garage too. But I also go through long periods of what I call hunting and gathering. It’s like with fermentation or making a tincture—you have ingredients in a jar and it might look like nothing is happening at first, but with the magic of time and unseen processes transformation happens.

I’m inspired by empty spaces, doorknobs, keys, closets, patches, old dolls, late afternoon sunlight, clocks and broken watches, Greek folktales, amulets, lullabies.

I go to bed thinking and worrying about genocide, racism, inequality, the state of health care, the destruction of the planet by late-stage capitalism and greed and billionaires. There’s no end to the horrors out there. But I also think about the power of community and the strength and hope in coming together and the ripple effect that can come from every small action. I think about how lucky I am to have the life I do and how can I share that with others.

I was ecstatic to receive a RAM Fellowship Award. It’s an incredible feeling to have people believe in your art, to have someone give you money and opportunity and a space to show work. I’m very grateful.