Artist Statement: I make vessels. In the process of raising vessels, I have come to acknowledge that I am born from vessels, raised as a vessel which my mom and dad hammered for a long time. And now, as each strike of my hammer makes a sound, every sound encourages me to hammer the vessel again.
I am informed by my actions— raising, enameling, sewing, and beading. These processes restitute me. My movements have become material lessons about care, and I realize that I make vessels that I long to hold.
I lost my father, I felt heavy. A promise was broken. Lately, I have been telling myself it may have been a gift, working through this period guiding me through a time of uncertainty.
My studio practice has then become a place I long to inhabit, a process that realizes his promise to me has not, in fact, been broken. My works survive as physical, emotional, and psychological monuments to, for, and about the fulfillment of my father’s promise such that I am learning what it means to make my own.
Materials: copper, enamel, threads, silver, steel
Dimensions: 2.4 x 4 x 2.1 inches
Educational Institution: Cranbrook Academy of Art