I work in a variety of media that allow me to represent the body in transformed ways. I create objects that address notions of balance, stability vs. instability, dependency, limits, need, and repair. My work is informed by my personal experiences with learning to adjust to an ever-changing sense of stability, caused by a genetic balance disorder, as well as theories presented about differently-abled bodies in Disability Studies.
In sculpture, I often use plaster and found materials, typically wood, that have been discarded or damaged. For me, this feature behaves as a metaphor for the regard society bestows upon the differently abled. The deliberately clumsy outcome performs as a substitute for the body ¬— my body. The nature of my work requires a physical interaction with the materials that results in the challenge of my own physical abilities and limitations.
The video work and photography presented in this thesis, evolved out of previous work in live performance. Before attending graduate school, most of my work had elements of live performance. I would use my body as a tool to call attention to the differences between a viewer’s body and mine. As my balance disorder has developed, I feel less comfortable presenting my body in live performance, as I do not have as much control over the gestures and movements I make. As a result, I use video and photography to present a virtual or “captured” body that is spatially isolated from viewers. As in sculpture, I use video and photography to create a detachment that enables an uncomplicated digestion of the materials and manipulations.
Sculpture, video, and photography are guarded modes of making for me. In them I can construct my body in any fashion I choose, through editing. The works presented here are all objects I created to help me understand the dependencies and limitations of my own body. By creating sculptures that mimic my own gestures, needs and tendencies, I am able to honestly and gracefully confront my increasing inability to control physical movement and function.