As a 21st Century working mother, I sometimes marvel at the many parallels between my life and the lives of the women who came before me.

 

Ever since Eve bit into that apple, a swirling fog of blame and lust, responsibility and conformity has affected how women live and view themselves; how we are perceived and valued by others; and how those perceptions have defined the contours of our choices and actions.

 

My abstract sculptures explore the social constructs surrounding what it means to be a woman today, viewed through the lenses of history, tradition and religion.

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Their underlying structure, their strength, is derived from cold, hard porcelain plates that have been pierced, effectively divorcing them from their traditional function. I use the piercings to introduce various "feminine" materials—clay, hair, thread, yarn, gilding and basketry—evoking not only women’s traditional handiwork but also the many acts we must perform and submit to throughout our lives. 

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Porcelain, perceived as precious, fragile, elegant and pure, is a symbolic parallel to the mores that have defined and confined women over time. While it can chip and fracture, porcelain is also strong and enduring, made from the very earth the Judeo-Christian god used to create humans. And the curvilinear forms of the plates evoke both the curves of the female body and the cycles of nature.​

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In these sculptures, I’ve chosen to hide the fussy, decorative fronts of the plates, instead challenging viewers to engage with their mysterious, hidden or private backs. This way they become both familiar and unfamiliar— and reveal their intended histories through lush, furry, whimsical, menacing, exuberant new identities.