My studio contains books, scraps of paper, vegetation, wallpaper samples, postcards, and other memorabilia and ephemera that reference the American experience. My current practice involves two distinct phases: first the gathering of materials, and then the flow state of making. To gather, I absorb the world around me–gleaning it for objects that represent both contemporary and historical life in the United States, as well as my own personal experience. This might include detritus from domestic life, pieces of my own photographs, or bits of vegetation, imbued with meaning from symbolic content or source site. When it comes time to create a work, I respond to color, pattern and form, excited by where edges meet. I spend my time cutting and placing things together, working intuitively, and using a range of analog and digital tools to create both unique mixed media collages and re-photographed assemblages.

Invasive Species considers humans’ role as stewards of our country and its resources, in this time of climate crisis. Transforming reassembled landscapes, I utilize tromp l’oeil, creating the illusion of physical depth and space to explore displacement and erasure. I create fictitious new landscapes and species, imagining what the landscape could be.

• Speculative Futurisms