This piece was created from nine identical staves later hand planed to achieve a subtle taper. The lid and leg are made of black locust which contrasts nicely with the maple staves and their painted interior. Made in a lighting class at Peters Valley, this lamp is what piqued my interest in the intersection of woodworking and lighting.
This is a playful take on the classic board game "Parcheesi" in maple, with hand carved insect playing pieces and an apple core trophy.
This bandsaw box was inspired by cross sectional scientific illustrations of plant cells. The implied connecting cell walls give the box a jovial stance.
I have always been interested in imagining life from the perspective of the furniture and functional objects around me. In my work, I integrate animate characteristics into functional objects that don’t normally receive empathetic examination to encourage curiosity about their individual lives and identities. I use playful, biomorphic details that lend my pieces a subtle animated quality, and inviting forms and textures that are pleasing to view and to touch. Additionally, I incorporate hidden, painted interiors to spark curiosity about what they might contain and to suggest an inner life. I cultivate joy for myself in designing each piece’s attributes and postures that suggest their unique personalities and attitudes, and in the users who come to discover an affinity for (in)animate objects.
My work is built upon the findings and processes developed by the craftspeople who have come before me, and I’m constantly learning and working in response to new technical knowledge and aesthetic feedback from my instructors and peers. I highly value the communal style of learning and making I’ve found in woodworking. Seeing others’ strategies for approaching a given topic is endlessly fascinating and inspiring to me, and I am deeply fulfilled by seeing an object emerge from a concerted communal effort.
By engaging in communal learning and making, I create work that fosters curiosity, appreciation for, and delight in functional objects often taken for granted.
Continuing to explore how lighting can impact the use of a functional or furnitural object, cove cabinet was my first wall hung cabinet and was constructed similarly to my coopered lamp. The door and drawer front are subtly coopered to achieve a gentle curve along the front face of the cabinet. The cutout in the door mimics the negative space in my coopered lamp and both are lit similarly.
While working on a large scale or more "serious" piece, I often have several smaller, experimental forms in the works as well. Making these more playful and less precious pieces gives me room to relax and brainstorm without feeling the pressure of having to commit to any given idea with a large chunk of time or resources. Often these "unserious" making sessions lead to the ideas of serious work down the line, so continuing to lean in to these small-scale making impulses is a way I keep my creative brain happy and healthy.
"Lockers" Acrylic, 2022
"Slab box" Ceramic, 2021
"Rattan lantern" Paper, rattan, 2022
Paper sample, dyed abaca, 2023
"Maple Cabinet" Maple, walnut, 2023
"Sea Forest" Dyed abaca, aluminum wire, bookbinding floss, 2024