PRICKLY PEAR TULIPIERE

Materials: ceramic

Date: spring 2022

SAFE FLIGHT

Materials: packing peanuts, saliva, paper

Date: spring 2019

This piece is an attempt at representational art that retains provocative qualities of abstraction. I aimed to allow the audience to make imaginative associations with a bird, while still letting the packing peanuts stand out. I was able to change the form of packing peanuts without loosing their unique structure. The individual packing peanut were specifically transformed into 5 different styles of feathers. This was done by studying the many feather types that cover the swan. By positioning these packing peanuts in layers over a skeletal structure (also made of packing peanuts), I have created the illusion of ruffled feathers. Each packing peanut unit is hand pressed, feathered at the edges, folded for added dimension, and bent before being positioned on a tier of the hollow torso. The wings are bent to convey muscle strain and trick the audience into assuming movement, further cementing the illusion of a swan. The lighting and proportion is designed not to overwhelm the monochromatic palette, and the lightweight nature of packing peanuts shows the defiance of gravity. I want this piece to remind my audience of the beauty producible from the mundane. In a world where many quality art materials are accessible, it is important to remind young artists of the infinite possibilities any material can offer with a little spit and a lot of time.

GUANO

Materials: ceramic

Date: fall 2021

FACING IT

Materials: ceramic, pastels, wood panels, luster

Date: Spring 2020

GAZE BACK

Material: ceramic, experimental glaze

Date: fall 2021

PRICKS

Material: cermaic, wire

Date: spring 2022

Pricks is a work of protest art that takes inspiration from southwestern vegetation and subverts their phallic association, re-centering female anatomy within the context of desert scape. These printed objects are apart of reclaiming the landscape I grew up in and inserting my queerness and femininity into a space where I had previously not felt secure enough to openly display it. Cacti are an incredibly tenacious and strong genus and I find strength in their ability to withstand harsh conditions and thrive with limited resources in unwelcoming conditions. The distance attending Art school in Chicago has given me is what is driving my urges to reconnect with the nature from my childhood but also empowering me to make work expressing ideas that I had not previously been bold enough to explore because of my environment.

In planning this project I aimed to create a biological guard and redesign the external surface of female anatomy to reflect a shared desire to protect against harm. A sentiment that has even more significance in light of the current political agenda threatening the autonomy of female bodies. We instinctively insert human bias into nature, this work undermines a personal history of negative connotations to create a new reflection of identity. By framing vulvic imagery within a nocuous barricade the assumption of tangibility and access is shifted. Societal representations of vaginal folds as beckoning all-enveloping forms are met with a clash of metal wire woven into the framework of the sculpture. These pieces physically object to careless interaction and stand in defiance against the violence inflicted onto female bodies.