STATEMENT OF WORK

My multidisciplinary practice explores the resonance of memory; the narrative traditions
of African and African American folklore; and methodologies of constructive resilience
implemented by marginalized communities to maintain cohesion and ensure survival. I work with
a disparate assortment of materials and studio methods to investigate how objects operate in both
the objective and subjective realities, and how history tethers those objects to individual and
collective memory. Thematically my work addresses issues such as social marginalization; racial
justice, and iterations of constructive resilience. My devotion to craft and the slow methodical
realization of an idea in visual form reflects my belief in the maker’s ability to imbue the object
with spirit through physical labor, fueled by vision and creativity. My work is often layered with
multiple references and meanings that avoid trite summations. A prevailing archetype in the
conceptual framework is that of the ‘trickster’, who exists at the crossroads; the meeting place
between opposing ideas. At this intersection of possibilities we are asked to choose, to interpret a
set of visual indicators which point towards a direction without being didactic. It is the elasticity of
the visual language; it’s ability to expand and contract--accommodating multiple meanings--that
compels and inspires me.