Artist Statement

The concepts and techniques of collage underlie my work. I combine fragments of cultural and historical significance with segments of personal meaning to create collages on paper, stretched canvas and free-hanging fabrics. I have also installed large wall-mounted collages, walkable labyrinths and hung fabric and Mylar panels for site-specific projects.

Though assembled from diverse materials such as product wrappers, book pages, fabric, plastic and gold leaf, my compositions are abstract and minimal. I am fascinated by biological processes such as photosynthesis, silk production and lactogenesis that transmute one substance into another. These metamorphic processes are analogous to my studio practice in which I transform materials into works of art that are tactile, sensory, and experiential.

The processes I use to make these collages are visible: Edges are torn, folded, and cropped. Individual segments are layered, pinned, sewn and glued. Surfaces are painted, wrapped or covered with gold leaf. They reveal the evident reassembling of individual fragments, memories and experiences.

As an artist and a scholar, I am inspired by the history of art and architecture, biological and ecological studies, as I seek to make material, symbolic and ecological connections visible.

Working increasingly with found and recycled materials, my recent work responds directly to the ecological degradation of our planet and to the risk of environmental and social collapse.

My collages, installations, and mixed-media works have been exhibited internationally in solo and group exhibitions. My work is in private, corporate, and museum collections.

I live and work in New York City.