This installation contains mixed media sculptures which feature several different materials such as clay, cardboard, paint, fabric, and polyfil. I truly hope that the combination of all of these materials overwhelms you. I use lighter materials such as cardboard and translucent fabric to convey a whimsical aura and contradict this notion with heavy materials such as thick fabric and clay, the objects attain a sense of gravity. They become personified in their own individual way.

This kitchen portrays the struggles of living, whether that includes depression, relationships, or exploitation coupled with coping mechanisms intended to mediate these stressors. As I have gone about living my life, especially within the past year, I have felt overwhelmed by the amount of stress initiated by mundane activities. I have realized that I am not alone in this experience. This world has begun to feel chaotic and unsettling. I use this idea of discomfort to inspire my artwork. Most of the works I create force me to find a deeper understanding in my own emotions and I hope that they will initiate a line of questioning for the viewer as they have for me. However, rather than depicting the actions that are stressful, I try to convey these feelings through images that are uncomfortable or literal such as oozing pus, regurgitation, or displaced organs***. Hopefully, the overwhelming sensation will create an individual experience. 

Throughout this process, I was constantly struggling with the balance of nostalgia and comfort against disgust and this out of place feeling. I could never quite tell whether I wanted my viewers to live within my space or run away out of fear. I personally lived in my space. I ate lunch beneath the sink, wrote a couple emails from inside the fridge. I pondered for hours upon hours as to what I would HATE to see, and then I interlaced those elements in everything I could think of.  I decided that it was necessary to have this tug and pull feeling. I wanted my viewers to want to run away, but not be able to. The presence of objects that are meant to be concealed represents the explicit vulnerability***. I wanted to force coping mechanisms to initiate within the viewer, I want everyone when viewing this, to take a moment and reflect upon their own levels of comfortability and why that is. Everyone has their own way of coping with vulnerability and I try my best to capture the understanding of these diverse experiences. Beginning to understand that about oneself can be intense and powerful. My intention is to spur  questioning around social normalities as well as provide a sense of captivity.  

If you take a close look inside the freezer, I have placed a TV in the space featuring one of my performance pieces. This piece is a little more personal to me. It discusses my personal coping mechanisms and the internal struggles I have had with that. I have constantly struggled with finding solace in pain and disgust and this was my time to show my vulnerability and if people feel moved, to connect to it. 

I had several different inspirations for this work, but the two artists that most heavily influenced my process were Claus OldenBurg and Myoshi Barosh. OldenBurg specifically influenced me through his way of sculpting food and the magnifying presence it can have while still being terrifying while Barosh influenced my sculptural technique for constructing organs and making a commentary on the inside being shown outside while using humor and irony. Both artists do a brilliant job with personifying the weight that an object can hold through textiles and other sculptural means.