2019 Graduate Art Exhibition, 2019, Tarble ARTs Center, Charleston, IL

Anxiety Beats, 2018-19. Square steel rod, nylon thread, audio. Installation, varied dimensions.
Thread Drawings, 2018-19. Recycled paper, thread, graphite, steel.

Universal steel
Tangles forces, fleeting peace
With intimate thread

My current installation investigates physical forms that allude to acute states of mind and how they manifest in all-consuming moments of anxiety. This has led me to bending square steel rod into abstract forms that express tension by the manner in which they have been bent and coiled from twelve- and twenty-foot rods to tangled objects. The nylon string acts as a method of suspension and grounding; it offers contrast and suspense while adding a kinetic aspect and connecting forms. Some objects are self-contained and anchor themselves, others must depend on another object or surface. A faint heartbeat completes the installation, making those that notice more intensely aware of their own body’s existence, just as I have experienced during the making process. The act of repetition illuminates the obsessive qualities embedded in the processes of my work and psyche. Immersing myself in the materiality of each medium and the physicality of practice emphasizes my perspective.

As a counterpoint to steel, I am re-investigating these concepts in thread. I find structure a helpful tool when working through anxiety. However, if organization becomes an obsessive and compulsive activity, it leads to unhealthy repetition and disorder. Each of the small, intricate thread drawings, whether hand-stitched or machine sewn, are coded with my own being, a record of movements in a specific moment of time. The covers, made of coated steel, display a harshness against the delicacy of paper and thread. The book showcases an ebb and flow between meticulous grid-work and overwrought chaos. It offers a more intimate and tactile interaction, contrasting the steel, that is imperative to reading the work as viewers engage to discover what can be seen with time and effort.