A composer has a variety of possibilities to consider while creating music. Similarly, I consider a multitude of options while creating visual compositions. My instincts act as a guide for the making process. My emotions influence my intuitive decisions that drive my passion to create.
I was captivated by music at a young age, realizing its emotional impact. Intuitive drawings were a way to harness my emotional reactions to music. The drawings resembled rushing water being divided by a rock.
I have an attraction to the gestural nature of glass as a molten material. Glass can create a high contrast between materials because of its jewel like quality. A better understanding of the material allows for discovery of light, volume, and function that expands my vocabulary of glass. Translucency, surface texture, and ability to trap light make glass a well-suited material to communicate with in three-dimensions.
Originally my work centered on narrative themes. This led me to study Baroque painting, which most often contain densely packed figures resembling a rush of energetic marks describing three- dimensional space. My first year of graduate study was spent exploring the formal aspects of Baroque painting.
A brush with post-modernist philosophy compelled me to discard my narrative concentration and discover a new way to approach my working process. Consequently, I started working more formally and quickly on several pieces at the same time. This produced the solution of building a wooden structure to house glass objects. The wooden structure replaced the drawing page, providing set borders and limitations. This relieved me of describing a narrative and enabled me to focus on my intuitive process of composing three- dimensionally.
In my final series of work, I established a standard of rules to follow. The dimensions and material of the stands were constant for each composition. Each piece would develop in concert with each other, so the final presentation was harmonious. Surrounding myself with a limited stockpile of materials that possess similar qualities to each other perpetuate the dance between each piece. These rules satisfied my logical decision-making, allowing for the emotionally intuitive play on materials.