"I Have Never Met One", 2023, "26 x 18", found objects, papier-mâché, acrylic paint.
The goal of this work is to see and change the idea of censorship in the modern world over how we discuss female bodies, their functions, and intelligence. This piece was sculpted in the shape of a vagina and includes a photo assemblage of historical feminists and other female-associated objects like birth control or menstrual products for example. Within the piece, I include the use of my own personal found objects to connect my experience to the experience of other women worldwide. The events that created the inspiration for this work came from a conversation I had on an outing with a man. While I was having an exchange he commented on my intelligence, simply based on how I am an undergraduate in Fine Arts and not studying something more financially stable like business. Noticing his thoughts on how he perceived women's intelligence as inferior I then began to ask him, “What woman is smarter than you?”, to which he then replied, “I have never met one”. This fueled me to create an art piece that expresses feminine intelligence and forces the males surrounding it to reassess their hypocritical thoughts about women. To do this I decided to stage my sculpture in the most male space possible, A urinal.
"Out of Sight, Out of Mind", 2023, "33 x 18 x 30", found objects, porcelain, sustainable fabric.
With environmental damages from clothing microfibers killing marine life and clothing dye seeping into the oceans from wastewater causing pollution, I created a piece to support sustainable clothing. The work titled, Out of Sight, Out of Mind, depicts a patchworked toilet with a variety of fabrics and colors. Each piece of fabric is attached to the form and creates a seamless film that covers the entirety of the sculpture. I decided on the toilet to be the form of the sculpture due to it being a waste receptacle and a pathway to the ocean, which implements the thoughts of wasting unsustainable fabrics and dumping them. With the form importance of making the viewer think about the enormous environmental footprint of both fast fashion production and disposal, I made the viewer reconsider the amount of effort put into each clothing item and the number of times each item is worn. With society pushing the idea of a new outfit for every event or the constant buying of fast trends, it is important to consider how much this is damaging the planet due to fashion producing a tenth of global carbon emissions.
"Unlucky Cats", 2023, "6 x 3.5", plaster, silicone, acrylic paint.
These molds were made from a traditional Japanese lucky cat, which typically brings the owner good wealth, fortune, and luck when placed in the recipient’s house, business, or office. I decided to put a twist on this tradition by creating my version of an unlucky cat. The form has the conventional cat with its left arm raised and includes the traditional colors of red, white, yellow, and green. The Unlucky Cat, includes these aspects but at the bottom of the cat’s podium, there is an array of skulls and bones colored gold, to represent greed and treasure. I was inspired to make this piece because of the connotation the lucky cat has with my younger brother. My youngest sibling Eli, and I would often exchange lucky cats as gifts for each other whenever either party would happen upon one.
"A Little Taste of Smoke", 2023, "24 x 18", mild steel.
A Little Taste of Smoke, represents my feelings of 'home'. Growing up in an older house I would often sit in the living room with my father while he made a fire and I would watch the movement below the mantle. This sculptural piece is a minimalist depiction of smoke and ash.