Artist Statement

I have always enjoyed adorning myself with jewelry and decorating my space with treasures from the natural world, or creations I have manipulated to embody my interpretations of nature. A fantastical narration has always been present in these explorations, reconstructions, and reinventions. I marry these passions into one alteration of surroundings with components that not only give homage to the natural beauty of this planet, but also to declare my imagination in a physical realm.

Ode to Earth is a material manifestation of my reaction to nature and the reverberation that ensued from creating a set of jewelry with stones and metal that the Earth has allowed me. I took time to gaze into the landscapes presented on the stones and imagined what worlds they held inside of them, as I designed a home worthy of these gifts from the Earth. I can carry this story with me when I wear the jewelry and live inside it within the exploded jewelry box that I built to inhabit it. I invite you to leave your reality and step into a snippet of my mind where you can let it seep into your senses as you decide what has unfolded and how it has led to this invention. My physical environment affects me mentally and emotionally, so here I let my mental state affect my environment and have created a space with aesthetic appeal that is an ode to my muse, nature.