FOLDS
I draw inspiration from my education in psychology and my early training in weaving to explore the walls we build around ourselves. Those barriers range from the geological and architectural to our own formless psychological constructs. In object-based work representing these boundaries, I push the limits of my materials—cast concrete, marble, obsidian—through transformations that ask viewers to question their expectations about material integrity. I mix real with simulacra throughout my work: cast concrete reads as marble; rigid objects undulate; heft defies gravity. I juxtapose high-end with commonplace materials, making it difficult to tell the difference and challenging viewers to question their own assumptions and material hierarchies.
My series of Folds—cast concrete slabs scaled to my body at 66” long—bend like fabric or foam, eliciting curiosity about their rigid material make up. I cast each Fold by twisting and pushing pigmented, wet concrete into a urethane rubber mold. Using padding and ratchet straps, I push the sculpture into its final form before the concrete completely cures. The Folds’ scale, physical presence, and weight allow viewers to relate to each sculptural “body,” such that each being, boundary, or swirling surface comes alive. The obsidian boulders weighing down the marbleized surfaces seem to teeter uneasily, heightening the works’ sense of tenuousness while adding another layer of material ambiguity.