My work explores the visual possibilities when using preselected, simple starting materials within a defined, yet flexible, systematic approach to creating. By purposefully placing limitations on my methods and materials I am pushed to explore new relationships between them and applications for them. This cycle of refining my process and pushing boundaries is the core of my artistic practice and is rooted in finding personal connections between my thoughts and my art.

In the most recent iteration of my process I explore the creative possibilities and beautiful visual results that are possible by printing unrefined, utilitarian fibers (such as burlap and jute meshes) onto paper using a simple monotype printmaking method. The ink captures the inherent structure of the fibers creating detailed fingerprints of the intertwined fibers on paper. As they are printed and reprinted, my starting materials are freed from their manufactured confines and become beautiful forms that drift on the surface of the paper as if animated. No two prints are the same but are united in their inception. Combining the prints by sewing portions of them together in a patchwork manner visually and physically connects the printed fibers and highlights their shared foundation.

My process is about seeking deeper insights rather than superficial investigations. Gradually it has become a conduit through which I explore the meaning of making art for me. It slows me down to meditate on the magic in front of me and allows me to appreciate and understand what it is offering to me. The knowledge I gain as I create continues to open up new ways of connecting my ideas to the work. It becomes an ongoing conversation that takes unexpected, but welcome, new paths.