My practice centers on materials first, through responsible foraging and a dedicated circular system of sowing, tending, and harvesting before transforming what has been gathered and grown into pigments, dyes, and fibers for use in a variety of forms.
Found minerals are ground down into powder, dried flowers and plant materials are heated in water to produce dyes, evaporated inks and lake pigments. Plant stems are stripped for fiber to create cordage or kept intact for various weavings. The possibilities are endless.
Some plants and materials I routinely work with include: Woad, Dyer’s Chamomile, Madder, Acorns, Dahlias, Coreopsis, Hopi Black Dye Sunflower, Goldenrod, Basil, Oregano, Passionflower, Hemp, Yucca, Dogbane, Snake Plant, Cotton, Corn/Maize, Wood Ash, Egg Shells, and various Iron Oxides.
PRACTICE + PROCESS
I am a regenerative artist working at the intersection of art, ecology and materials research to create pieces that are materials-driven and intuitive, from paintings to weavings, fiber work and sculpture.
I draw on aspects of ancestral knowledge and craft customs through practices such as hand-dyeing, sewing and weaving to forge a connection with the past and a through-line to future generations. The resulting work is a meditation and an exploration deeply rooted in process and the materials themselves to examine themes of kinship, unification and division, deep ecology, and natural cycles of emergence, growth, and decay.
I live and work in Maryland’s Cheseapeake Bay region, ancestral lands of the Susquehannock and Piscataway peoples, near Baltimore, Annapolis, and Washington, DC.