Artist's Bio

I was born in Gaithersburg then Raised in Frederick Maryland. I then received my BA  of Studio Art at McDaniel College, in Westminster, MD , in 2015. I am working towards applying to Grad  School so that I can receive my MFA. I'm looking to expand on my idea in the future.

Statement 

I walk around antique shops looking for something that might have been special to someone, but has since lost its importance.  As I glance around I question the worth of everything that is there. I question how long these objects have been sitting on the shelf, waiting. I contemplate their history. Who had them first? Who made them? Some people would call them junk, but I see more than that. I see a story. Someone made them, cared for them, owned them, maybe even loved them. These objects have a history of their own.

As I gather the objects from antique stores, I question their worth. Walking through the store I wonder who would stop and gaze at, and purchase, these discarded memories? By covering them entirely in beads I have distorted the objects original purpose and meaning, altering their history and worth. By modifying them in this way I give them new purpose.

When I search the antique stores for useful relics to transform, I also photograph the environment I find them in. I use the photographs to create complex collages to construct an altered view of the space and time of my experience in the store. I bead over certain areas in the composition. The beads not only create a striking contrast of color, texture, and depth within the collage, they also add another layer of the unknown to the reconstructed image of the antique stores.