Embodiment — Salvaging a Self

Sitting at the juncture of photography and sculpture, this work represents a salvage operation: I retrieve something of value from man-made cast-off items that would otherwise be lost or abandoned. It’s an effort to generate coherence and harmony in a dissonant, fragile and precarious world, rendered more so as I contend with an autoimmune condition that has threatened my mobility. Hunting for things to capture in neglected or beat-up spaces (a scrap metal yard, alleyway, construction site, behind a strip mall or pizzeria), I often haul items to new sites, or back to my studio, to work with sculpturally and again photographically. Sometimes photographing them where I find them is enough, sometimes I have a slight hand in modeling or adjusting. These are “readymades” with occasional interventions. The sculptures I create in my studio communicate obliquely and directly with what draws my attention in the outside world. They are vulnerable and alone, standing up tall, already collapsed, or somewhere in between, embodying what I was going through, at a time when I didn't know if I would lose the use of my limbs. I delight in making and connecting images that speak to each other through shape, color, line, texture, gesture, attitude and atmosphere, often playing with scale to emphasize or distort these relationships. While the objects themselves may carry a sense of loss, loneliness and abandonment, these connections feel playful and bring me joy. I hope this work speaks to viewers about their own physical or emotional challenges, about all our human frailty, and the question of what we can salvage from our experiences. (Displayed here are selected images from full body of work)