"Generation" marks the inception of a fresh series, Gift Economy, delving into emotions, neatly packaged and delivered, whether solicited or not. These structures serve as conduits, emitting gifts of various shapes and patterns, symbolizing different feelings. 

Viewing all emotions as valuable offerings, whether initially welcomed or not, I seek to delve into the intersection of emotions, portraying the complexity of human experience. 

This collection will encompass prints, sculptures, and quilts alongside a commercial line of enamel pins and flags, fostering a communal exchange where individuals share their moods, potentially passing them on in a reciprocal gesture.

The Lure series originated from my participation in the Design After Dark 2014 fundraiser by the Design Council of the Denver Art Museum, themed CAST. Faced with time constraints, I embraced the concept of fishing and rekindled my love for fabric sculpture.

Lure is named for its dual significance, drawing inspiration from both the fishing bait and the captivating ability of living things to bewitch and captivate. This series embodies a celebration of color, pattern, texture, detail, and form. I approached each piece with a sense of honesty and play, finding a profound joy in the act of making itself.

In 2022, I revisited the series, producing five new pieces with a renewed sense of purpose. These additions to the collection retain the distinctive style and humor characteristic of the series, serving as a genuine expression of my artistic process and enduring devotion to craftsmanship.

The Vessels for Transformation series was initially crafted as personal talismans, aiding me in confronting life's challenges and encounters. Each mask serves as a vessel, invoking powers to protect against threats, pay homage to nature, summon needed energies, or foster healing.

Initiated in 2013, this ongoing series draws inspiration from ancient cultures, science fiction, and contemporary materials. It reflects a quest for empowerment, utilizing available means and skills to manifest powerful spirits capable of guiding through life's trials. Blending fantastical mythology with intuitive creativity, the obscured characters invite interpretation without historical constraints.

Rooted in the belief that imagery holds transformative potential, the masks are shared symbols of empowerment, offering guidance and protection to all who seek them.

"Objects in Place" delves into the essence of everyday objects captured in personal archived photographs. By isolating the primary object and abstracting it into a state of flatness and non-materiality, all extraneous forms are removed, leaving behind only a shape that may evoke a distant memory of its familiar silhouette.

Meanwhile, the background activity is transformed into vibrant explosions of pattern, each possessing its own kaleidoscopic depth. This juxtaposition of objects portrayed as emptiness against surroundings portrayed as surfaces initiates a playful visual interplay and a redefinition of their relationship.

In a sculptural translation of this exploration, the objects as negative spaces are crafted into three-dimensional non-objects, devoid of specificity, floating within their patterned surroundings.

What initially began as a simple experiment in simplification, akin to the Ropes series, has evolved into a highly intricate, process-based exploration. "Objects in Place" continues to evolve and unfold as an ongoing series.

Influenced by seminal works such as Charles and Ray Eames' film "Powers of Ten" and Katherine Roucoux's book "Heaven and Earth," my artistic journey embarked upon a profound exploration of scale and the interconnectedness of the microcosmic and macrocosmic realms. These encounters with the infinitesimal and the astronomical sparked a fascination with the expansiveness of existence that resonated deeply within me.

In 2012, as I contemplated concepts for an upcoming exhibition, I immersed myself in the intricate act of drawing highly detailed patterns of organic shapes. The emergence of three expansive pages transpired, each delineating a multitude of minute realms. It was a revelatory moment when I realized the exhibition would be an odyssey through invented worlds within a universe of my own creation, mirroring the thematic structure of the Eames' groundbreaking film.

The foundational elements of my constructed universe are a melange of pinwhickles, cells, ropes, branches, crystals, terrazzo, lily pads, cocoon eyeballs, feathers, and flotsam – shapes both tangible and fantastical, inspired by a myriad of forms, textures, movements, colors, and patterns.

Comprising ten distinct drawings, each serving as an autonomous piece of art while collectively forming a cohesive whole, the series embodies a cyclical narrative akin to a circular slide show. Within each image, three layers coexist, offering viewers varying degrees of magnification, symbolizing shifts in perspective as one traverses through the universe. The scale transitions from 1:1 to 1:500 and 1:1000, inviting observers to embark on a journey of discovery and contemplation.

The series is complemented by corresponding letterpress prints meticulously crafted by Smokeproof Press, further enriching the experience and materializing the intricate components of this captivating universe.

All works within this series were conceived and executed in 2012, marking a pivotal moment in my artistic exploration of the cosmos and the boundless possibilities it encompasses.

The surge in tornado activity across the United States, reaching as far east as Massachusetts, has deeply affected me. As a native of Kansas, where tornadoes are a part of life, I feel a profound sense of loss as these natural disasters seem to encroach further into regions where they were once rare. It's as if something deeply personal to me is being eroded by the forces of climate change, threatening to wash away my cherished experiences and memories.

This sentiment inspired the title of one of my artworks, "What I Thought Was Once Mine is Now Ours", which delves into these feelings of loss and collective vulnerability. Through intricate drawings and imposing fabric sculptures, I aim to capture the duality of tornadoes: their destructive force and their mesmerizing beauty, while also exploring the emotional impact of tornadoes on both individuals and communities.

In "As I Slept You Carried Me", I revisit a haunting memory from my childhood: waking up to the news of a tornado tearing through our town while I was blissfully unaware, lost in sleep. These artworks serve as visual interpretations of my recollections, capturing the awe-inspiring yet terrifying essence of tornadoes through the eyes of a young child. Even now, I perceive them as forces of nature both magical and surreal, transcending the bounds of reality.

The "Ropes" series originated as an exploration of simplicity, a departure from the figurative, narrative, and surreal content of previous works such as Mount Create, Harbingers, and the Transportation Stations series. However, the initial minimalist approach gradually gave way to a complexity that manifested in both scale and intricacy.

As new pieces were started, the series evolved, with the quantity and intricacy of ropes increasing. What began as soft, curvilinear movements between individual ropes transformed into a dense, Byzantine tangle of varying textures, sizes, and formations.

Despite my initial intention for a serene, minimalist aesthetic, the work embraced chaos and intricacy, revealing the beauty of simplicity within complexity, and vice versa.

This series marked my first foray into collaborative work, as I enlisted a coloring crew for assistance due to the monumental scale of pieces like "Ropes in Blue, Green, Orange, and Brown" (measuring 5 by 10 feet). Collaborating with teams brought a sense of community akin to a quilting circle, enriching the process like friends solving a puzzle together. This shared experience has become integral to my practice, fostering camaraderie and a richer outcome.

These drawings represent the initial exploration of a series focused on the intricate connection between the human body and the natural world. Through the deconstruction and intersection of various components, I aim to construct original structures and abstractions that evoke immersive environments – spaces ripe for imaginative exploration.

Motivated by the intersection of imagination and fundamental knowledge, the series delves into how we visualize the microscopic inner workings of anatomy. It prompts viewers to ponder what it might feel like to traverse these intricate structures, to perceive and experience these spaces at a minute level.

The Psychescapes project is a visual exploration of emotions, both universal and individualized, through motifs, symbols, and scenarios. Instead of relying on verbal expression, these images serve as illustrations – abstract representations that unveil the essence of mood. They offer a departure from traditional narratives; emotions are not conveyed through a storyline but through pictograms.

For instance, a collection of sticks and flotsam might evoke a sense of foreboding, conveying the feeling of being enclosed or trapped with no escape. On the other hand, flowing stripes intertwining seamlessly could symbolize boundless creativity and energy, yet when encased within a rope fence, they suggest a constraint on that freedom, a stifling containment.

Each piece invites viewers to explore the depth of their own emotions, offering a visual language to articulate the complexities of the human psyche.

"One day, in a moment of great disquiet, an urgent animal conference is organized to discuss the demise of their kingdom, forging a plan to hunt for an ancient portal, spoken only of in myth, in hopes that its discovery will offer passage to a new land.  Over time, it is unearthed, and through this find, our animals leave us.  Later, far into the future when our lands are not the only ones we know, when people are giants and lifeforms are scarce, this portal is rediscovered opening up possibilities to restore our world with species and kingdoms once thought gone forever...."