Artist Statement
I am an artist living in Seattle, working in both photography and collage. I am inspired by decadent desserts, antique malls, retro signage, and ladies in dresses. When not making photographs or cutting up magazines, I can be found working in a restaurant or traveling up and down the West Coast.
My latest project Home Life, are photographs of the daily lives of my family and friends. A visit to the park, reading the mail, watching Chinese television, these are all points of interest to the story. I was surprised at how relaxed my subjects were as I photographed them. Everyone has welcomed the camera in their faces as we chat. My goal with this project is to gain experience in visual story-telling.
In the on-going series Motels, I have traveled the West Coast for relics of a time that is passing. Once-flashy motel signs are now falling into disrepair. As the mom n’ pop world changes hands to mass corporations, my photographs allow us to live in the old days just a little longer. This work is a document of the American Dream.
Staged photography is used in my project Sweets, which explores themes of over indulgence, chemical dependency, and feminine sexuality. I hope to illustrate the relationship between desire and guilt, and how one often precedes the other.
My collages have been described as “dreamlike”. The process of searching for images, the physical cutting of the magazine paper, and the final arrangement of the images make creating Collage pure bliss. People, places and objects that would have never appeared together in the real world, seem at home together in my created scenes.
Education
- Evergreen State College 2003-2006
- Photographic Center Northwest 2009-present
Solo Shows
- Motels Both Ways Cafe Seattle, WA 2012
- Playground Burnt Toast Boulder, CO 2008
Group Shows
- Members Show Boulder Photo Center Boulder, CO 2008
- Aurora Motels Photographic Center Northwest Seattle, WA 2009
- Volunteers Show Photographic Center Northwest Seattle, WA 2012, 2011