Whether it is photography, mixed media, or sculpture, most of my work stems from a curiosity and/or fascination with something that presents itself in my life. I am drawn to these things, which I then feel compelled to investigate. Each investigation presents a series of aesthetic problems that require resolution. While exploring possible solutions, I proceed to have a 'conversation' with the materials/subject matter with which I'm working. Neither the material nor I impose possible actions, rather each entity 'influences' the other, which eventually manifests itself in the finished work.
Although most of my images require no additional explanations, there are a few series whose appreciation would be enhanced with the inclusion of some background information:
PHOTOGRAPHY
CURTAINS
While attending the Ann Hamilton Armory Show “The Event of a Thread,” I became fascinated with the constantly changing forms created by the audience/spectators who then became participants/artists. My “Curtains” Series is an example of split-second changes in the curtain’s morphology, which occurred from my particular vantage point.
ARSENALE PROJECTS
When I attended the 2011 Venice Biennale, I spent time walking through the gardens at the Arsenale. Standing amid the trees and shrubs were sculptures worn away by the passage of time, while still retaining and exuding beauty and majesty. Their decayed but noble condition intrigued me; a testament in stone to the human condition.
CENTRAL PARK TREES
One February, while riding the crosstown bus, I became intrigued with the organic sculptural forms made by the bare branches of the trees on the periphery of Central Park. During the next two winters, I photographed all the trees whose branches were sculpturally interesting to me, from East 59th Street to East 110th Street and then West 110th Street to West 60th Street. All extraneous imagery was removed in order to concentrate the viewer’s eye on the abstract forms of the branches.
FIVE BULB AND ROOT SYSTEMS
The approximately 200 bulbs I either planted or purchased resulted in beautiful narcissus, amaryllis, lily, tulip, and orchid flowers. However, I was more curious about what was under the earth (and unseen), than what was above. After the plants died, I removed the flowers and most of the stems as well as the soil surrounding each part. Often, I found a kinetic and/or anthropomorphic sensibility. Images within a group resembled each other like members in an extended family album. My excavations yielded beauty beneath the soil. These photographs are a testament to the “stilled” life below and hidden from view.
MIXED MEDIA
THE TRANSFORMATION SERIES
Using candy wrappers and paint, this series concerns the triumph over negative forces present in our inner and worldly struggles. I see the struggle evolving through three phases: “Darkness,” “Transition” and “Light.”
RED SCRIBBLE
With the realization that I could untangle and straighten the wire hangers on which my husband’s shirts returned from the cleaners, I proceeded to reconfigure and paint them. Afterwards, I interlocked them and pinned them directly into the wall.