When I moved to Chicago I lived in a small studio apartment. At the time, I was studying printmaking and sculpture at SAIC. Acclimating to a large city reinforced a desire to make larger, more expansive work. I had limited living space, and even less furniture. Naturally, I combined the need for furniture (structure) with the desire to make more immersive work. I see this work as interactive sculptures – functional objects that look beautiful even when not in use.
My process is tightly calculated, with room for intuition. Making functional objects requires planning, measuring, testing, retesting, and refining. Countless hours are spent on preparation before materials are cut and constructed. As materials are chosen, problems solved, details shaped, intuition then takes over. It is methodical planning that makes the objects useful, while intuition makes them playful and interactive.
I work primarily with wood and metal, and obsess over the nuances of each. Wood is processed from trees that grow with adequate water and sunlight. Raw ore is mined, processed, melted, and mixed to create metal alloy. What I’ve found is that although these materials are very different in the way they’re made, there is a wide overlap in their behavior and characteristics. This overlap develops a sense of balance between the natural and manufactured that mirrors my approach towards designing objects - combining both strategy and instinct to amplify the voice of the material.
Each piece is unique. Made thoughtfully and meticulously by hand, in Chicago.
Contact
