Artist Statement

 

      As an interdisciplinary artist and educator, my work surveys identity through a cultural and gender lens. I work within photography, video and performance art mediums. Viewers can experience self-portraiture images of representation from a distinctive and personal place.  Either by constructing narratives or quasi-documentaries, I aim to create work that evokes a conversation about cultural differences. 

 

     My work purposefully sets up a framework for conversations dealing with race, gender, class and sexuality.  I look at how socialization and statuses impact our intra/ inter personal experiences. This allows an audience the space to deconstruct or break-down misunderstandings or discomfort with identities.  By posing open ended questions within my work, we can appreciate each others inner voice through the power of artistic expression.  

 

     I use a formalist technique overtly to provide a framework for viewers' to enter my portraits and documented video performances.  The work is less of an examination of materiality and more about giving a broader meaning to content with cultural references.  The projects I create, either in video, performance or photography, influence each other. It’s an intuitive practice. 

 

     Vilem Flusser states in his book, Towards a Philosophy of Photography, “in the act of photography, the camera does the will of the photographer but the photographer has to will what the camera can do.”