2D & 3D Work (Non-Painting)
Recent material experimentation (ongoing and unfinished)
Bloodroot Anthotypes:
test round 1: Chopping and boiling bloodroot to extract the dye. 1 coat on paper. Messed with making it more acidic/Basic. Printed with random transparencies. Exposed for 2 days outside. Amazing/surprising to get any print out at all, but still need much better contrast.
Test round 2: Same as above but more coats on the paper. More contrast in this print...Looking promising
Test round 3: Blended root in blender with less water. Coated paper 3 times. Let it sit out in the sun for several days but I noticed that the transparency was not properly pressed against the paper, so the image is not clear at all.
Test round 4: Trying to infuse recycled paper with the ink so the paper itself is light sensitive. Blended root in blender with recycled paper to make pulp. Made paper then printed for 4 days outside with random transparencies. Great success! Still need to work on contrast. Next, I need to collect more bloodroot to make it more concentrated to see if that helps with contrast.
Mica:soldering and printing
First goal: Work on linking these sheets of Mica together somehow. (mica harvested from old ray mine area in Burnsville). After much consideration I decided to try stained-glass method, and found that it was successful. I ended up with a lattice of mica sheets connected with handwoven chainmail. I call the culmination of this experiment “Shield” .
Second Goal: Printing images on mica. First I tried inkjet transfer with no success. Next I started experimenting with cyanotypes on mica following the instructions I found in a reddit post for printing cyanotype on glass! First photo is of the gelatin emulsion, then one result from the first attempt(image was of a bandana from the Blair Mountain coal rebellion. Solid first results, but images were still unclear. I think I let the emulsion cool to much and also coated it too thickly in some spots.
Next round of printing: Images came out much better. The transparencies themselves were pixelated, but the photos of cicadas are legible anyways. Next goal is to combine these two goals into some final projects, but first I need to collect source images and do some more research.
2D/3D Finished work (Non-Painting)
Erode
2025. Series of Inkjet Print Transfers on Recycled Paper
Each Apprx. 16” x 13.5”
These are inkjet print transfers onto homemade recycled paper. The paper is made
from Hurricane Helene storm debris (mostly cardboard) that I collected and then
processed into new sheets. The images are photos of riverbanks after the storm: some
piled with fallen trees and branches and debris, some stripped bare, and some
revealing tangled root systems from the trees above.
2022.
Series of three pieces of wood that I covered with raspberries then wrapped in different ways. Non-archival as the raspberries were intended to mold. In making this piece I was exploring themes of decay and protection.
From Left to Right:
Wood, Raspberries, Stainless Steel
Wood, Raspberries, Saran Wrap, Nails
Wood, Raspberries, Plexiglass, Sheet Metal
Meat Oven (What am I good for?)
2019. Plaster mold, Inkjet Prints
Apprx. 12 x 12 x 7
In Meat Oven, I cooked meat in plaster through the exothermic reaction that plaster goes through as it sets. I then broke open the plaster block and removed the cooked meat, destroying the block. Meat Oven (What am I good for?) looks at the limiting idea that women exist as vessels for other.
Packaged
2021. Twelve pieces of agar bio-plastic encased in traditional plastic.
Each apprx. 6” x 6”
Concrete Piggybank
2023. Concrete, Metal, and Cash
Apprx. 8” x 8” x 10”
This is a utilitatian piece that I designed as an alternative to a savings account. Concrete is naturally fireproof. The only way to access the money inside is to break open the piggy bank.