West Coast Turnaround

This is the first time that my boyfriend Shelby Davis and I have attempted to work collaboratively. For that matter, it is the first time I have collaborated with anyone, We are very dedicated to our individual art practices, and through a series of evolving discussions have found places where our ideas intersect. Specifically, we have discovered that we both have an interest in vague narrative—stories that start to be told through our sculptures, but aren’t completely explained. Each of our work has employed a shift in scale to distort and re-imagine the story being told. We also rely on the use of personal icons and mythology to create the subjects of our work, following the images that repeatedly come to our minds. Right now we have mutually been fascinated with bulls, buffalo, big trucks, jack rabbits, rodeos, and how the vastness of the west engulfs these small scale jewels. We are never sure exactly why these fixations formed, but trust that they will lead us somewhere interesting.

Currently we have a three month residency at Milepost 5, and are working on our first sculptural installation, a life-size semi-truck, made out of drywall and merging into the walls of the space. We both see the semi-truck as a childhood icon/phallic symbol/wild beast of the roads. It simultaneously represents freedom and movement to us, in conjunction with dominance and waste, while the domestic materials used for house construction suggest a form of stasis. However, the choice of using drywall isn’t solely based on material meaning. It is also a venture in recycling, since the material we have set aside to use was reclaimed from previous art projects.


I will post updates on the progress. Put November 21st at 6pm in your calendar, because that is when we will have our opening party!

Holy Cow!

This is the most recent crystal sculpture that I have made. It is a long horn steer skull. It is awesome, and I love it.

Switzerland part 2

I just returned from a one week whirlwind trip back to art-st-urban, in Switzerland. It is hard to believe that it has almost been two years since I was there for the ISC residency! This time around there were several other past residents and we worked from dusk till dawn making sculpture. I met some pretty amazing friends/artists and had some good debates about the merits of westcoast vs. eastcoast art. At the end of the week an auction was held to benefit art-st-urban and its artist residents. The auction was a success, and I am pleased to report that I sold some work and received an award from art-st-urban. Here are some pictures of the sculpture that I made while there. It is constructed out of gusasphalt and glass.

Fun with crystals

Here are two new sculptures fresh from my studio. They are is beginning of a new body of work, which combines some of my personal iconography and family history. As a child my parents were avid rock hounds, and my sister and I were often drug into wilderness in search of quartz crystals, fossils and gold. Now, as an adult I cherish those memories as invaluable, but wonder about the false value often placed on the endless hoard of possessions that we surround ourselves with.

Unseen Forces Are at Work

I am finally getting around to updating my blog (sort of). Here is a compilation of images from my show at Igloo this past September. Also, here is a little blurb about the work...

This interactive installation asks the viewer to become part of a collective memory: the continuous shaping, erasing, and reforming of their environment.

The installation consists of magnetized walls which attract and hold a formation of hand-placed steel pellets placed by viewer participants. Over the course of a month, the installation undergos continuous transformation as visitors add the steel pellets to the magnetic wall and begin to reshape the growing mass.

The work comments on the nature of memory formation and transformation, creating a visual experience referencing organic systems, synapses, and natural growth. The individual becomes connected to a larger experience through this interaction with the work, leaving behind a mark for someone else to interpret and continue.

Interview on Bellevue TV

I am not really comfortable in front of a camera or being filmed, and even less comfortable with people watching, but this was pretty cool, so I thought I should share it. This is a show on Bellevue TV about the 'Sculpted Green' exhibition, which is up until October. My interview is about half way through the program. I don't know how to upload parts of video, so instead, here is the link:

Bellevue Interview Link

Fingerprint Project now at PDX

Here is an image of the fingerprints installed at PDX Contemporary Art. It is a hard space to document, but this picture should give you a good idea. The space is about 81" high by 94" wide.
I built a false wall, so that the work could be closer to the window, and then covered it with felt. If you are in the Portland area, check it out. The gallery is at 925 NW Flanders, but my work can be seen from the outside on 9th street.

Coming up:

2008 Bellevue Sculpture Exhibition, Sculpted Green. This is an biennial juried show featuring the work of 40 sculptors. I am showing 'Aspens' (an installation of aspen trees that I created out of cardboard tubes, fabric, string and paper), and 'Have and Have Not' (the stained glass shopping cart).
June 14 - October 5th, at the Bellevue, Washington City Hall

-There is a small blurb on the SeattlePI site, posted by the art critic Regina Hackett: http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/art/archives/140457.asp
- Also, the local Bellevue television station will be doing an interview with me about my work, so I will let you know when and where to look for it.

PSU Alumni Show: Cross Section '08. I will be showing new sculptural works... to be determined
July 11 - 25, at the Autzen Gallery, PSU

Igloo. This will be a solo show, where I will be creating a site specific, super interactive, magnetic, sculptural installation. A good time is guaranteed to be had by all.
Opening party and all of the action will occur September 4th, for first Thursday.
Igloo is located at 325 NW 6th #102 in Portland