Artist Statement   

      The work I curate draws inspiration from the resilience of the natural world in the aftermath of devastating events and human-induced calamities. Creating installations through collecting and mending materials through the act of stitching serves as a vessel to process the emotional impact of witnessing the places I grew up visiting devastated by wildfires. The anxiety I experienced during my evacuations from human-caused wildfires twice within the past three years profoundly influenced my artistic practice. The fear of losing everything, including my home, my animals, and tangible pieces of my family’s history, haunts my summers. The escalating summer heat and the transcontinental air pollution serve as constant reminders of this anxiety.

Throughout my final academic year, my research and artistic endeavors underwent significant transformation. Initially, I focused on ceramics that reflected the surviving ceramic pieces found in houses decimated by fires. My exploration of natural disasters and expansion in interdisciplinary mediums led me to create installations incorporating found objects and video projection. I intend to continue investigating environmental topics and the human tendency to disconnect from them. With these materials, I will explore metals and intricate video projections involving sculpture. Materials left after fires and objects that are partially destroyed interest me the most, from charred beams and concrete foundations to melted puddles of glass, formerly windows.