I create sculptures and installations from itinerant debris foraged along coastlines, rivers banks, or other transitional zones, where the built environment cedes to the wilder ecosystem. Culling through the tangle of plant, animal, and human refuse deposited in these shifting landscapes, I extract fragments of manufactured goods that have been eroded by the elements in a manner resembling the familiar patterns of growth and decay in living organisms. I graft these artifacts into ambiguous hybrid forms to amplify their potential to serve as markers of conflict and transformation of the landscape. The unexpected beauty of the discarded matter is exploited to counter the ethos of disposability. My interlaced sculptures are informed by observation of specimen and site and by research of the interrelated environmental, economic, and socio-political factors that situate their recovery. I employ traditional crafts to entwine the past with the present and pit the turbulent forces of nature against suggestions of human industry, agency, and complicity.
