Statement

My practice centers sculptural textiles and hybrid forms that engage the body as both subject and sensor. I work with salvaged leather, hand-dyed fabrics, and mechanical fragments, materials marked by prior lives and chosen for their ability to hold tension, texture, and memory. These works, sewn, bound, and layered, function as tactile devices: part garment, part interface, part terrain. They invite sensory engagement through scent, touch, and interaction.

Concocting work that interacts with the body, I corral many media. Physically bending to the material’s imprint while impacting it with my intent, I become their expressive vehicle. Sewing machines extend my body and through a complicated dance of foot pedals, to pierce and sew. This process of merging separate media together results in a site of energy transference—the joinery—the activated point that thrusts one medium into another.

Working in sculptural textiles involves layered, responsive processes. A combination of textiles, encrusted objects, machine parts, and rescued scraps are manipulated into devices that help facilitate experiences of what is often invisible. These machines house tools of exploration that enable visceral interaction with the senses.

These 'sensorial machines' are meant to be worn or handled; others breathe scent, evoke shelter, or extend prosthetic forms. Grounded in my experience as a disabled wheelchair user, I approach disability not as limitation, but as a generative force. Each piece holds tension between exposure and refuge, utility and ornament. I consider these forms offerings of service: protective coverings, interactive tools, and kinetic architectures that respond to the viewer.