ARTIST STATEMENT

Growing up surrounded by nature documentaries and the ecosystems around me, I became aware at a young age of how quickly our planet was changing and how much of that change was caused by human greed. This awareness inspired me and ultimately made me decide to study biology in college, not as a career focused on profit, but as a way to better understand and care for the world around me.

Alongside biology, I studied art and art history as a separate passion, where I encountered a different kind of exploitation narrative that seemed familiar. In many historical European paintings, particularly in Italian art, women were often portrayed as passive subjects shaped by a patriarchal society that controlled their image and identity. Learning about these histories helped me draw connections between the ways both women and nature have been objectified, controlled, and exploited.

Using unconventional materials and found objects, I create female figures that act as contemporary reimaginings of women from the past. Industrial materials such as plastic and metal reference the rise of industry and the systems of control.  In contrast, natural materials and organic forms suggest a connection to the living world that existed before industry.

DO YOU KISS YOUR MOTHER WITH THAT MOUTH? references the similarities of how women are both tied to the Earth through their natural form and how they are treated less so because of it. These figures exist between the natural and the industrial, representing both conflict and resilience. Through their presence, they become survivors of those that attempt to control them. By placing these materials and forms together, my work reflects on the shared histories of exploitation between women and nature while emphasizing their persistence and ability to survive.