Statement
My work speaks through masks and textiles of surreal lands of masked creatures. In these lands we are powerful and free, protected and proud. I draw upon my own cultural histories of mask wearers, elements of power and kink, and historical scenes of concealment. Masks denote power from the unknown, offer a costume for the jester, a shield for the fragile, and freedom from our perceived self. I want to be hidden and completely present. I want to be vulnerable and protected. This work is intimate.
The masks, or wearables, are made of scavenged materials ranging in process from crochet, knit, sewn, or woven textiles. My work engages these wearables within a familial folkloric narrative. I am exploring my own lore through textiles and play.
I am chasing the myth of the mother. My Móðirs (Mothers) series exemplifies the concept of being hidden and completely present in plain sight. It references the amorphous entity that is a mother. I feel mother non-conforming, unsure of how I am a part of and embody the role, and yet I twist and turn myself into whatever is needed for my child daily. Reluctant to meet the matrescence (the process of becoming a mother) head on and feeling the weight of these shifts, my wife and I carry on as people and care-givers to our young child. The masks and photographs speak of momentary desires for a new life, one we don’t know yet—of more rest, more play, and greater support.
The Móðirs
The Invisible Móðir series exemplifies the concept of being hidden and completely present in plain sight. I am a myth in the making while chasing the myth of the mother.
For me, the Móðir series references the Victorian images, while also referencing the amorphous entity that is a mother. I feel mother non-conforming, unsure of how I am a part of and embody the role, and yet I twist and turn myself into whatever is needed for my child daily. Many former selves are now in the shadows of this bigger thing that has muscled in—mother. The historical photographs of mothers concealed under heavy textiles holding their children in order to capture a photo have always struck me for their comical and creepy lengths mothers go for their children. After having my child, these images feel like the truest record of the chaos wrapped in a bow.
Invisible Móðir
The invisible or hidden mothers were an invention of necessity. Early pioneering photographers had to wait hours for camera exposures. Even though exposure times had been drastically cut down to about 30 seconds by Victorian times, mothers still had to go to very strange and creepy-looking measures to get their children to sit still for baby photos. Babies had to be held by their mothers who, with the best of intentions, hid themselves in peculiar ways so they could calm their babies and also stay out of their children’s pictures.
-The Hidden Mothers, Linda Fregni Nagler
S/HE/R
The series, S/HE/R, My Norse Fylgja, deals with woven and crocheted wearables from a familial folkloric narrative. As the story goes, we are descendants of vikings, a commanding clan that were equally fragile. I am exploring the concept of the fylgja, a Norse spirit that accompanies a person and connects them to their fate. I imagine my spirit to be a colorfully-loud, dancing fool: powerful and free. There is an exchange- one of dualities of dominance and submission, fragility and power. Yet, the exchange also weighs on the concept of intimacy. Power from a woman. Power from the unknown as a headpiece that masks the face. Power from a whip, from ways of its movement. S/HE/R lives in its contradictions; nonetheless, it is also comfortable in a state of play. I want to dress up in costume and be something else, a different version of myself. I want to be hidden and completely present. I want to be vulnerable and protected. I want to be a jester with authority and invite others to do the same.
Recent Shows
2024 ARTIST & CHILD, Roswell Visual Arts Center, Roswell, GA
2024 MAMA NEEDS A RAISE, Old Stone House, Brooklyn, NY
2024 BOARDERS AT BORDERS: Ely Center for Contemporary Art, SPRING BREAK, Los Angeles, CA
2023 SMALL WORKS SHOW, Gallery 440, Brooklyn, NY
2023 LABOR, Mother Creatrix Collective, Spoke The Hub, Brooklyn, NY
2023 ON MOTHERHOOD, Kyoto Shibori Museum, Kyoto, Japan
2023 ABOUT HOME, Ely Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
2023 OH, MOTHER!, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI
2023 TIME/SPACE, Mother Creatrix Collective, Compère Collective, Brooklyn, NY
2023 MASKED, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art, South Korea
2023 CATALYST: Why Not Art, Compère Collective, Brooklyn, NY
2023 23 ARTISTS of 2023, Ubique Art, NY, NY
2023 PROCREATE PROJECT ARCHIVE, London, England
2023 ALL TOGETHER NOW, See/Saw Gallery, Manchester, NH
2022 THROUGH THE MASK: Conversations about Culture & Covid, McCarl Gallery at St. Vincent College, Latrobe, PA
2022 CLAY & TEXTILE, Williamsburg Art & History Center, Brooklyn, NY
2019 NETTED SEAS, SMUSH Gallery, Jersey City, NJ
2019 NEW DIRECTIONS IN FIBER ART, Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ
2018 4HEADS GOVERNORS ISLAND ART FAIR, Governors Island, NY
2018 OCEAN SIZE, Gallery Petite, Brooklyn, NY
2018 BELOW THE SURFACE, 440 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2017 MAPPING EXPERIENCE, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Canvas Rebel, Stories & Insights, 2024
Cover Art, CHOOSE THIS NOW, written by Nicole Haroutunian, 2024
“Grief Is Not Regret: The Art of Pink Hair,” MUTHA Magazine, 2024
Women UNITED Art Prize, 2 023Finalist Interview, 2024
Studio Visit Book V.2, Arts to Hearts Project, 2023
Interview with Ubique Gallery, New York, NY 2023
Sinister Wisdom, 7/21 & 2/22
Print & Publications
Collective
Thank You
To many friends and participants, especially Jessica Ward, for your willingness to collaborate and participate in the photoshoots and to Alan Cano, my favorite photographer of masks and weirdos.