Why do girls who are turned into birds need to be saved?
Goose Girl, photoshop collage, 2010
Simultaneous States - 2011
Being in many places in one’s thoughts. Being more than one. Exhaustion and revelation. A fragmented, confusing, distorted self portrait, overlapping different images of my face, hands, and words.
Stills from “Rocking Chair”, 2011 Duration: 4:49
A cat leaps off the chair, setting it in motion.
The chair rocks down a path, arriving at the sea.
The chair is swept up in the waves of the sea.
The chair in the cave of lost things.
A story within a story about a little girl and a chair.
Bobcat tells the chair a story.
This installation (2011) of narrative works showcased my senior thesis work from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. The fabric tent-like structure created a specific place in which to view the animation “Rocking Chair” that I made in the Spring of 2011. The structure is constructed from PVC poles and fabric. The video is projected on the the shorter wall from the outside of the structure, so when the viewers sit inside, they can watch the animation in a comfortable and intimate space. This installation recalls oral storytelling traditions through the relationship between the viewers, the space, and the video. The voice of the narrator in the animation takes the place of a live story teller. “Rocking Chair”, uses shadow puppets, colored gels, projections, and stop motion animation techniques to create a world that shifts further into fantasy as the story goes on.
Dimensions of Tent: 8’-5’H x 7.5’W x 7.5’L
Materials: Exterior: fabric, PVC pipe, projected video
Interior: hand made cushions, hand woven rugs
Self to Self, 2011
This felted tapestry tells the story of a dream I had about meeting myself from two different points in my life. My younger self cradles my old self, sensing the exhaustion that comes at the end of a long journey. Far from being a creepy or unnerving experience, the dream had a feeling of peace and connection.
Dimensions: 5’ tall x 6’ wide
Materials: felt, light
The armatures for the Bobcat and Hare puppets. These are constructed from CNC milled brass parts with steel balls and rods creating the ball and socket joints, and hollow paper mache body parts to create a light outer form. Later the paper mache was covered with felt and the felted paws and faces covered the metal hand, feet, and head joints.
Stills from “Three”, 2010 Duration: 3:59
Details from “It is the trees who hear our wishes”, 2010
“It is the trees who hear our wishes…”
Begins the poem that is the foundation of this installation. Constructed from paper words used to create lines of text and three dimensional forms, the words tell a story about the seasonal shift from winter to spring and touches on the concept of physical objects carrying or embodying wishes and desires.
Created 2010
Although initial drawings of these puppets appeared in my sketch book in Fall 2009, these puppets were not fully completed until the following year. During a trip to Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, these characters took on a new life and sense of narrative in the beautiful forest and ocean landscape of Maine.
Dimensions: 18” Tall
Materials: Bodies- Articulated metal armature, paper mache, felt,
Clothing-handwoven fabric, hand dyed fabrics, handspun and knit
sweater, buttons, beads
