Argentium silver, sterling silver, pecan

My Stricture series transforms surface into line, undermining utility while emphasizing form as a means of exploring content. Fused and forged wires merge to create both a positive and negative surface. Rims, edges, and handles—the outermost boundaries of objects—are linked through this unconventional filigree. Silver operates as both gesture and structure. These are objects, but also sketches; they define space while simultaneously denying their own role within it. What is within is both integrated and isolated from what is without; through this pervious quality, we may also define ourselves.

This series explores the dynamic properties of balance and form within seemingly common objects.  The overemphasis of key functional elements—the hinge, the handle—results in hyperfunctional objects that feel familiar, yet strange.  Their presumed purpose is both showcased and sabotaged.  It is only through use—or attempted use—that the objects are truly understood: they are stand-ins for handy implements, revealing their failures once handled.

Sterling silver, dried eggs
2020

This work engages the idea of grasping onto things (ideas and information, but also fear and worry), striving to hold onto them neither too tightly nor too loosely...an exercise in taking care and being mindful, especially when there is so much at stake.

Powder coated steel, chrome automotive tape

Located in the main lobby of the Elizabeth Hotel in downtown Fort Collins, this pair of “inverted” chandeliers is a continuation of the Eversion series, seen in my “Projections” installation. It explores how an absence can indicate presence, though perhaps not in the manner we expect.

projections took place at Vertigo Art Space in Denver, CO. The work is a visual synthesis of two seemingly disparate fields of artistic inquiry: one personal and emotional, the other formal and structural.  There are many ways of understanding structure and form, just as there are many ways of understanding relationships and status; through an inversion of object and shadow, substance and scale, I construct a means of exploring both.

What we see is not always what is there.  This simple observation is one that can be applied to objects, circumstances, even relationships.  Perception can be strategized to achieve a certain end, both in how we present ourselves to the world and through assumptions we make regarding the world around us.   

My "Fidelity" series explores themes of introspection and self-examination, and the inherent struggle to remain meaningfully connected to one’s conscience. 

I make these spoons from the scrap silver that I have collected in my studio over the years.  The material is collected, cleaned, and reused from one piece to the next, resulting in a physical continuity that directly ties one piece to the next.

The pieces in my Obsolescence series are based on antique lard lamps and oil burners.  I recreate these objects using traditional metalsmithing processes and techniques, coupled with sleek, industrial finishes.  The resulting objects are a hybrid of methods and materials that reference both contemporary and traditional craft processes and ideals. Each piece is a formal study of the vernacular of function and utility, and each one is similarly subverted and repositioned within a fine art context.