Artist Statement

Anything is possible within the preposterous landscape of the carnival. Even when the show is over the carnival is only transformed. It is an ever-shifting entity that blurs the lines between the real and the imaginary. My work perceptually alters the gallery space in the same way that the carnival temporarily alters a farmer’s field and the night, in turn, alters a carnival. In my work I manipulate both the physical materials of the installation and the audience in a way that is both impulsively humorous and unsettlingly carnivalesque. To enter the gallery space one must pass through a veil ("Right this way folks!") into a world continuously unfolding, and then refolding, into itself. My installations affect space; causing it to morph into fantastical landscapes that lure a viewer into an interactive relationship with the work. A necessary function of the work is the blurring of boundaries between the spectacle and the spectator. Consistently at the carnival - the viewer is an important part of the show. But does the carnival pass through our world, or do we pass through theirs? It is in this intriguing terrain I situate my work; a discomforting, beguiling landscape, impossible to resist.

My practice involves transforming my studio into an unusual workshop. While tinkering away within it, I create absurd and abstract forms that are bizarre yet oddly familiar. From the readymade to bits and pieces, I play intuitively with my collection of luscious and mundane materials. These anthropomorphized objects then become curious, slightly freakish, installations. My process is rooted in trial, error and happenstance. It is an ongoing, systematic experiment with materials. The resulting installations constructed with these inventions create a preposterous environment of curiosity and uneasiness.