ARTIST STATMENT - WORKING PHILOSOPHY
Like the subconscious that communicates with the conscious person through remembered dreams, I believe the artist/individual can speak to society by giving form to his or her inner experience. In this way, art, with its varied language of form, becomes that subconscious voice to society, revealing truth within its images.
With my body, with sculptural form, and with constructed environments, I explore human experience within society, particularly the overlapping and politically charged issues of personal desires/beliefs and societal restriction/limitations. I select materials based on their power to stimulate memories and associations, which may be unique to each person, but that, resonate a broader social significance.
The content and form of my work often evolve from collaborative interaction with community. I film individuals and their environments. Their everyday language of common expressions is interpreted and translated into structure and action that investigate the human experience: gender, class, and environmental and social issues. In this way, I consider myself a social artist, and call the works I make Activators.
My works involve everyday objects, and simple materials, such as earth, wax, and pigments, with elements of sound, projected image, and performance. Frequently, video and sound form a conceptual architecture, utilizing layered graphic images and text. At times, my artworks encompass complex, large-scale installations, that involve architectural elements and metal work. Other works are simple body-based performances. and drawings. I work from a conceptual approach that closely blends life and art, interacting with communities in particular sites, or very directly with nature. These works, which I call Social Sculptures, reflect the psychosomatics of our society, and invite the viewer to become aware of the history, the essence, imbedded within a place. I focus aesthetic power to reveal social significance. Site is often a catalyst in my work. I use the actions of performance to complete the installation, which remains on view. I have been awarded fellowships from the National Endowments or the Arts and the California Arts Council in support of this work.