Artist Statement

My work has been centered around the creation of posable creatures that are spiritual and mysterious in nature. The pieces feature flat surfaces and defined shapes that are sometimes decorated with geometric cutouts or metal leafing. My focus is on the movement of my works, because movement and posing brings life into the piece as it does to a living being. Movement makes the pieces relatable, and the elements of design make them ethereal.

I’m inspired by modern pagan practices as well as Christian art and symbolism. History tells that elements of Christianity are derived from ancient pagan practices, and I am looking to pull from that. Religion is important to me in practice as well as aesthetic, but I am very much drawn to the artistic aspect and its untouchable and mysterious qualities. I am particularly interested in the depiction of angels within Biblical text, which describes them in ways that sound outlandish and monstrous in comparison to the classical paintings of winged humans in Catholic art. The descriptions are meant to relate to pagan practices of the specific region of their origin, for example, the seraphim are sometimes depicted as snakes with wings, where the winged snake had been a symbol in both Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Greek mythologies. My goal is to separate the symbolism from the ideology, creating personal spiritual figures akin to angels.

Articulated dolls are a practice going back to Greece and Rome in 200 BCE. I create my works using a type of ball and socket joint, where the parts fit together precisely and are held together by tension created by threading an elastic cord through the hollow center of each piece and connecting it to hooks on either end of the figure. This practice came about in the modern sense by European artists in the late 19th to early 20th century, and is now popular in countries like Japan, China, and South Korea with the use of resin. These are typically human dolls and are used as photography subjects for art and fashion. I was deeply interested in how these worked, as well as how I could break out of the normalcy of the human body. I based my creations loosely on general figures, but largely it is an ongoing experimental process to find the best way to make my figures properly articulated.

Within the practice of doll making, artists usually carve the figure from a base of clay or similar substance, and then mold the model out. I’ve chosen to create my figures in the digital sphere and 3D print the pieces. The limitless aspects of working digitally are what I found appealing, and soon realized that it also aided in making precise, well-fitting joints for my works. This allows me to focus less on the creation of perfect surfaces and more on experimenting with the medium as a whole. I can easily add and change elements to benefit my work while maintaining the parts that were well functioning. My works are a product of modern spirituality, incorporating digital media and techniques as well as ancient practices and symbology. Their purpose is to break down elements of the times and create new gods and spirits that breathe their own life.