Artist Statement

The Poetics of Hope and Other Absurdities

I am curious about the world directly around me and that which can be absorbed, explored, and reinterpreted from my vantage point. I am drawn to the poetics of hope and the absurdity that can come out of that realm. Hope leans into people’s expectations and desires. This can be inherently muddy in composition.

Absurdity allows for nonsensical contemplation or commentary on the ridiculous or the unexpected - it also leaves space for humor. I aim to weave these threads into works that catch people off guard. I aim to weave these threads into works which pull people in. I aim to weave these threads into works which cause people to pause, to shift their thinking, to be consumed by wonder, and to smile unexpectedly.

 I work in glass because glass is omnipresent and tends to hide in plain sight. It is a versatile medium that can be bent, stretched, blown, cast, melted, cut, polished, and fused. It can range from near invisibility to extreme reflectivity. It hovers between a liquid and a solid, it is amorphous in structure. It can take on nearly any texture, and as a substrate can be accept an array of coatings. Human understanding of the universe has developed alongside our ability to understand and control glass. The study of cosmology has expanded in tandem with advancements in glass manipulation. Lately, this has led me to become obsessed with telescopes. I am amazed that using only my body, I can grind and polish a piece of glass to a level of perfection that will allow me to view not only the moons of Jupiter with my own eyes, but also much deeper universal objects whose ancient light has been travelling longer than the earth has been a planet.

As an artist I am constantly interpreting the world, not unlike a scientist. The difference is I am free to operate outside the bounds of the scientific method and dabble in the poetic muddiness of hope and absurdity.