To create one’s own language as an artist takes a great deal of time and growth. Now that I have found a “language” of vessels with techniques and materials, it is time for me to clarify my concepts and constructions to best communicate.

Technique, materials and forms are the structure of an object/element. I choose to sculpt using fibers – using a variety of materials from jute twine from the hardware store to bark peeled fresh from a tree, and cloth purposed for commercial fishing. To build an object I use a variety of textile techniques – stitching, knitting, crochet, coiling, weaving – any form of joinery. My forms develop from the materials’ strengths and weakness. They border on the yonic and womb-like, referencing nests, bindings, and scarification.

But I’ve allowed the materials and the processes to heavily influence the style of my work as opposed to enforcing the concepts I want to communicate. In a manner, I have been following or deciphering myself from my work. I believe that it might have been the best way for me to learn about myself to see or hear what I had innately to say. But now it is time, with new maturity and self-realization, to sit and create from a sense of awareness.

I will most likely always work by intuition but I would like to take this time to really examine each element of my process. From the initial concept, writing and sketching to the choice of materials – raw to manufactured or re-purposed, the technique to construct the structure and the conclusion of the object and it’s successfulness in communicating the original thought. I will be analyzing my “language” and hopefully be able to narrow down my words to the essential phrasing.

I just returned from 2 weeks at Haystack. It’s become a bit of a home-away-from-home. Hisako Sekijima was teaching and I just couldn’t resist the opportunity to meet her and work in her presence. I didn’t accomplish quite as much as I hoped but I did meet wonderful people and had a chance to see some old friends.