Artist Statement

Among my earliest memories are those of organizing disparate gleaned treasures and youthful infatuations into collections. Shoe boxes of quartz crystals, an encyclopedia with hundreds of pressed leaves between the pages, long ago abandoned keys amassed on multiple rings, bones from beloved pets and farm animals…

The care and maintenance of the many collections became a retreat into a private world of cross referenced obsessions. Containers for the many items became an integral part of the organizing function. Roll top desk with dozens of cubbyhole drawers, filing cabinets, tool chests, metal cookie containers, industrial compartmented chests and the interior fittings from an Indonesian batik shop became a collection containing collections.

Childhood rituals have grown with adult veneers and have turned into a manifestation of obsessive compulsive order. Crafting has been added as a legitimizing manifestation that allows a semblance of sanity. The collections themselves have become a source of raw material for manipulation. Materials are assembled in vast numbers so that they take on form and substance beyond the single unit appeal.