Date of Submission

Spring 2021

Academic Program

Studio Arts

Project Advisor 1

Maggie Hazen

Abstract/Artist's Statement

I approach my work as a scientist: I go to my lab and execute experiments, concocting mixtures and deducing outcomes. My work becomes a petri dish–a clear blank surface exposed to biological elements that layer and grow until ready for sampling. When the viewer engages in this work the importance lies in the visibility of the process. I used polyurethane, alcohol ink, fabric, and other materials to construct individual layers. These layers are the biological elements that have a life of their own but when examined as a whole these act as indexes for the process of maturity. Through each layer, my development is exposed and the intimate process I had through my experiments are revealed under stark gallery lighting.

The lighting directs shadows and color like stained glass. These pieces carry my own grotesque images that show the dimensional layers depicting an abstract scene. They architecturally divide the space to dictate the direction of focus while themselves being beacons of detail. There is tension between biological examination and the spirituality of religious traditions. I find these pieces to co-opt these standards between biology and religion and bring them together.

The more experiments I conducted the more I recognized what I was creating because it had been inside me. This is what my biology looks like. I have turned my body and brain inside out for the pleasure of viewing. I made myself the object for a prurient viewer in the form of my thesis.

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Open Access

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
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