The artist's statement

My engagement with art stems from a deep desire to learn, experiment, and grow. I love the moment when material and technique meet and, after many attempts, something magical suddenly happens. I look for surprises in art. I begin with a sketch, and then in the field, when I am filming or sculpting, I allow space for the unexpected. In video, this might be the weather suddenly moving the fabric in an interesting way, or shifting light creating a compelling shadow.

Life is a combination of planning and adapting to situations beyond our control. In my video works, this always happens. There is a connection and flow with the environment in which I film. My eye is constantly searching and learning, and I am moved by surprises. Art is my way of life. Like a puzzle, it connects interior and exterior, question marks and exclamation points, into a shared creation that is open to interpretation.

Books I read, such as The Little Prince, and poetry I study inspire both me and my work. In my latest video piece, there are closed boxes that could be moving boxes, yet painted white so that they also resemble residential buildings, concrete barriers, or even tombstones. In the story of The Little Prince there is the sheep inside the box. In philosophy there is much discussion about what is hidden from the eye, such as Schrödinger’s cat, and about questions we may never resolve.

In this work, I imagine life inside the boxes, just as there is life inside people’s homes, yet the exterior made of concrete does not tell the story within. Even in cemeteries there are living creatures and questions about the afterlife. The external movement of the box suggests the movement and life within it. We do not know what moves or animates it. Only imagination can guess.