artist statement

I love found natural objects and primitive structures, like suddenly finding a cairn while wandering in the woods. I used to walk in the woods when I was little, and I remember when nature was magical to me-the growth of unfamiliar plants, the discovery of animal tracks and little cairns and forts left there by the neighborhood children, the feeling of smallness and awe as a child in the woods.

I’m interested in form and texture, and in connecting art to nature and prehistoric antiquity. I’m fascinated by Bronze Age jewelry; ancient stone animal carvings; rock cairns; and wabi-sabi design. I study how ancient jewelry was made, and incorporate both its techniques and its spirit into my designs.

I had a childhood of playing in the fields and forests in Minnesota. In the dirt and grass, in piles of fall leaves and in snow. Becoming an adult in modern society severs childhood connections to the earth. So, I am fascinated with things that are ancient. The way ancient goldsmiths made jewelry. The marks of fingerprints. Roughness. Unevenness. Sanded. Rough-cut gems. Organic forms. The sense that a human being made this piece of jewelry, using tools she made herself, taking her time. Things with a form and a history behind them. Of a place within a culture. A sense of belonging.