When I was a little girl, my father told me that eating tomatoes would make me “big, strong and hairy chested.” I avoided eating tomatoes for twenty years. 

As a general rule, my sculptural work is inspired by childhood myths or adult anxieties regarding my body. Like my childhood association between the consumption of tomatoes and the growth of chest hair, I sometimes find body-stories or body-experiences to be simultaneously comical and horrifying.  It is often these extremes in emotional reactions that drive me to produce the work, in an attempt to better comprehend each situation.

I use clothing as subject matter because it provides me a ground on which to investigate identity and corporeality. My garments are metaphors. They can encompass narrative qualities, illustrate and dissolve bodily fears, or act as talismanic devices.

Handmade paper is at the core of every work. Paper speaks of the vulnerability of the flesh, as well as the delicate nature of the psyche. In addition to utilizing paper, I often incorporate unconventional media into my work. I choose to use such non-archival media as dehydrated tomatoes, fish skins, sausage casings and human hair, because the materials assist in my storytelling. I conjure work that may be transitory in nature, but rich in surfaces and sentiments.

Recently, the parameter of my work has expanded to include the well-being of loved ones. Coping with familial illness, loss and motherhood has altered my outlook on the world and my responsibilities in life.