Picking Up the Pieces Installation
The truth is often stranger than fiction. Appropriating and altering materials I create domestic scenes where nothing is as it seems. Appearing normal from afar, I use personal and found objects to communicate issues around mental illness, family, gender, and social taboos. Dining room chairs with objects embedded below the surface of their Saran wrapped cushions. Tea and coffee cups lie about, lipstick and coffee ring stained, with glass from the sidewalks of Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood fired within. Under the stairs lies a pile of orange glitter, a broom, and a laundry basket filled with my own baby clothes. The labels that once read OshKosh B’gosh now read: white trash, slut, easy, crazy, and worthless. Catholic iconography is scattered throughout. The windowsill is flooded with frames of altered family photos and found images. The window against the wall glows with neon orange, the color of warning. The white lace JC Penney curtains are coffee stained and tied back with locks of blonde hair. Through observations in the everyday, I find the bizarre and absurd in the familiar. Photographing, documenting and labeling out of place objects found in daily life. Playing with materials, I find interesting and odd juxtapositions, […]
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Pick Up The Pieces
pick up the pieces abandoned, fragile, and shattered pick up the pieces fixed broken pick up the pieces decay illuminated pick up the pieces flaws treated pick up the pieces sedated perfection pick up the pieces benevolence scars pick up the pieces abandoned, fragile, and shattered Pick Up the Pieces, uses personal and found objects to communicate the cycle of mental illness that often leads to homelessness. The tea and coffee cups, which appear normal from afar, under closer inspection reveal lipstick and coffee ring stains, and glass from the sidewalks of Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood fired within. This work came from reflections on the broken beer bottles I would see while walking to my studio each day. During the daylight they appeared abandoned, fragile, and shattered; during the night, illuminated and glistening. These dualities called to mind the experiences of people struggling with acute mental illness. Why did I possess the desire to clean this? This work allows me to mindfully examine the self and what drives me as a caregiver. I do this work to understand life’s dualities: in order to fix something it must first be broken. This work connects with the Japanese and Zen […]
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Cautionary Tales
The Cautionary Tales series uses traditional hand game patterns to report on themes of sexual assault, child abuse, and domestic violence. The lyrics are based on memories from both my mother’s and my own childhood experiences. Clap patterns are part of an oral tradition and their rhythms harken back to elementary school playgrounds where they are taught from child to child, spreading American folklore. Teachers and parents also use these to work on communication, listening, and fine motor skills. Under deeper inspection, Cautionary Tales, like the works of the Brothers Grimm and other folklore, serve as a warning of lurking dangers in everyday life. Free Copy Of Cautionary Tales Zine
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