ABOUT

I was born and raised on the Great Plains of North Dakota, where my passion for life's simple and beautiful offerings led me into the world of art. Some of my earliest and favorite memories involve sitting on top of the kitchen table with watercolor kits and crayons laid out on the butcher block paper my mother layered beneath me.

I had been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia as a young adult, a condition in which chronic pain is caused by overactive nerves, and art gave me the escape I needed from the physical limits I faced as well as a mental relief to the fatigue that swept over many days. Creativity veiled reality while production proved perseverance over exhaustion.

I attended Bismarck State College (Bismarck, ND) where I found my passion for painting challenged by the immersive allure of clay. I explored both mediums as well as art history at Minot State University (Minot, ND). A residency at the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts (Newcastle, ME) came next, then I was accepted into Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ) where I took up house in the undergraduate ceramics studio and worked for the ASU Art Museum. It was there I met curator and director, Leslie Ferrin, who hired me as an intern in the Berkshire Hills Internship Program through the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (North Adams, MA). This let me combine an artist residency at Project Art (Cummington, MA) with work for her gallery.

I continue to live and work in the Berkshires and Pioneer Valley in Western Massachusetts, where my internship start has led to six years work as managing director for Ferrin Contemporary. I work in finance, installation, client services, web development, and sales.

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STATEMENT

I create abstract and biomorphic works in clay, blending the body with the landscape in sculptures.

My body of work is defined by a mixture of figuration and abstraction. To me, the physicality ceramic artists explore in the pliability of the medium relates directly to the artist’s understanding and mastery of form itself. In the process of shaping and molding my pieces, I feel connected both physically and spiritually to the body and its nuances and meanings.

I have also been influenced by the places and people I meet whenever I move into a new environment. The plains of North Dakota, maritime scenery of Maine and deserts of Arizona have all filtered into my work and affected my forms in both conscious and subconscious ways. Figurative works morph into boat- and sail-like vessel forms that have then peaked into mountainous landscapes.

I strive to create pieces that, while stemming from personal sources and inspirations purposeful and identifiable to me as the creator, expand beyond my story and challenge their viewers to assign meaning and worth according to their own conclusions. Expressionistic styles and abstract forms translate into works that make ambiguity and individual experience the heart of their existence.