At a young age, I witnessed vitality in the face of mortality through my father’s 20yr struggle with cancer. Keeping his memory and this lesson close, I work with materials that are simultaneously strong and fragile, echoing corporeal reality. While my sculptural work with handmade paper often invites an upward glance, working with beetroots calls for viewers to look down. Using bold colors and diverse symmetries that exist underground, I create intensely colored skin-like abstractions that are un-manicured and imperfect with veins and hairs. Irregular shapes are caused by the challenges and circumstances of growth. The papyrus itself ages; the brightest colors fade over time.
Beet papyrus using Giant Mangel beet harvest from Jacobsen Orchards, a culinary farm in Yountville, CA.