examples of plant roots

plant roots 1

plant roots 2

In process ring #1

Ring # 1

Being from the large city I can’t say that my connection with the natural world has ever been that strong.  As a child of course I played outside and rolled around in the dirt from time to time, but I was never really taught to appreciate these natural occurrences as special or secret.

As and adult I have grown to be more aware of my surroundings and the natural elements that many of us take for granted.  In this work I am hoping to manifest a relationship with nature that I never had.  By creating fictitious gesture of to what I perceive as being natural is somewhat of a stepping-stone for me to come to terms with what I have been neglecting.  By physically putting these wearable objects into the ground I am symbolically bridging the gap between the natural elements and myself,  trying to get closer to a certain understanding. 

Ultimately this  piece from top to bottom will be about 4 and half feet tall

This first piece is a little over 2 feet tall

This is balsa wood and   cast bronze

Ok yeah, I  carved and hollowed this whole piece out of wax, you  wouldn't believe how light it is. 

I'm a freak

sketches for root rings

These sketches are  a mash up  real forms and  fictitious forms that I have created. With these forms I am trying to  create a tension between what we perceive as real and what is fake.  I think that allowing the form to  be familiar draws the viewer in..... and then the fact that "something just isn't right" brings the viewer to further investigate the object. 

Brooch #3

This was an exploration of a few different elements....  in this piece I am trying to create a gestural form where perhaps the viewer becomes lost in the line.  There is a juxtaposition  between the line and the   bold color ends  where I believe it creates  tension between these two forms.

Jewelry student co-op sale

Thinking on... #1

Today as an adult I have learned to embrace nature in away that I didn’t allow myself to  as a child. I think  the simple fact of being an adult now rather than a child  has a lot to do with my change of heart.  Being who I am now I can actually contextualize my place on this earth, my place as a user.   Coming to the realization that our natural resources are diminishing is something that I think about more often and I think about that as being very REAL and not that it MIGHT happen some day. 

Things I think about:

My purpose as an artist is to help others digest the constant visual( just visual?) information that we are bombarded with daily

The need to have a more direct connection with nature

The need to understand what my place on this earth is, and how I can make it better

Embracing organic and natural objects for what they are, repurposing them as unique

Before something can become endangered we should highlight that they are important and our direct connection with them

Is wearing jewelry that contextualizes this message put the wearer closer to that idea by being able to wear it?

Does the body help facilitate this more intimate space so that we may  have time to  digest these ideas and forms?

more sketches

sketches