2020. Fabric, chain, concrete.

My thesis is focused on the concept of cheap as a lens to investigate value systems and formalism as a tool to reassert, reinvent, and reimagine these systems. Bedsheets, synthetic yarn, craft store beads, chain, and cement, my current installation is composed of pieces constructed with leftover fabric, elements created as excuses to keep my hands busy, and material I have been drawn to accumulate over the last year. This sculptural work exists in visual relation to the projection occurring in the back room of the space. The film is a multi-layered stop motion that focuses on the local Appalachian landscape as experienced through movement.

Crochet, in particular the rag rug, is at the center of my work. With this stitch, I make connections from where I am, to where I come from and who I come from. From here I question working class visibility, interest and labor within market driven contemporary art, and the rationale behind the hierarchical lines drawn in both fine art and craft. Under the politics of disposability and extraction, market based value is derived from myths of scarcity and exclusivity; to mark value through attention, care and abundance undermines these myths.

I am fascinated by the defiance of “tacky”, resilience embedded in the craft that is born of necessity and the system rebellion that occurs when you make for yourself with what you have. My work is as much a by-product of my desire for this radical system change as it is a meditation on form, material transformation and labor.