Artist Statement / Bio

I’m from Illinois, where I was born into an artistic family with a couple of professional artists, so I always made art. It came easily to me, and I enjoyed drawing and ceramics from an early age. I attended a BFA program in Sculpture at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, where they have an excellent metal foundry that I was obsessed with. Memorably, we used to break up radiators and do an iron pour every spring, and pour bronze the rest of the time. I also completed a three-year MFA in Sculpture at Indiana University, graduating in 1998.

Several years of adjunct teaching followed, mainly 3D Design and Drawing. In my graduate program, I taught Art for Non-Majors, which included a little bit of everything.

After moving to the Bay Area in California and working at a foundry for two years, I became interested in making my sculptures move. I began casting my clay sculptures in lighter materials like resin, rubber, and foam. Now I create hollow cast creatures that light up and move using electronics and microcontrollers. I consider light to be an essential medium in my sculpture.

The medium is the message—if you want your art to speak to contemporary culture, technology is a powerful medium. Light can symbolize consciousness, vitality, and clarity. Science shows us that light behaves both as a wave and a particle, and even living organisms can generate light. Adding movement introduces time, placing my work into a 4D category.

Learning engineering techniques has been challenging but rewarding. I owe much of my knowledge to the internet, open-source communities, and The Crucible in Oakland, where I studied kinetics extensively.

I’m interested in biology, morphology, biodiversity, and bioluminescence. My work explores the ethics of science and technology—often with a science fiction perspective. I’ve explored the semiotics of the body and I’m inspired by automata, kinetic sculpture, and artists like Arthur Ganson and Theo Jansen.

I’ve participated in RoboGames, Maker Faire, and hacker spaces in the Bay Area. There are not many women working in this area, which has been a challenge, but I’ve collaborated with others including Rose (Canner Mefe) and Marina Kukso.

I’ve always been drawn to making beautiful objects. Beauty is not trivial, it has a positive effect on our psychology. My current work combines beauty with technology, maintaining continuity with tradition while embracing new possibilities.

While contemporary discourse often questions meaning and identity, I remain interested in preserving humanity, beauty, and spirituality while using technology responsibly. I believe we can embrace innovation without losing what makes us human.

Selected Work