Artist Statement

My paper sculptures are inspired by our natural and domestic worlds. They begin with a daily practice of paying attention to my environment, both indoors and outdoors. I photograph my observations to revisit when drafting my forms and imagine translating them into sculpture. Examples include lichen, stains, spills, ice, reflections, and shadows. I do this not to replicate them, but to help me create more specific, exciting shapes.

My understanding of space and form is also intertwined with my experiences as the child of a ceramic artist (Randy O'Brien). I often cut openings into my sculptures, out of a desire to expose the inner, hollow space and the delicate walls which create it.

These sculptures are the result of intensive, but joyful, experimentation with material; my work is about process as much as product. I seek out the tactile and the handmade, because I believe in the importance of intentionally slowing ourselves down in our modern, stimulant-heavy world. My primary material is mulberry paper, chosen for its soft, translucent fibers. Using glue, I stretch torn pieces of this paper over forms created with bamboo or balloons distorted with masking tape. I explore various possibilities for presentation: hanging them, building my own stands, using found objects, or shaping the paper to support itself. Above all, I listen to the piece as I work; careful to respond to the shapes in front of me, rather than an idea conceived before the process began.

This time-intensive practice gives my sculptures a sense of personality and autonomy. They feel alive, almost animal, yet they exist in a domestic, indoor space. I have always been interested in the abstract and ambiguous, what resides in the in-between spaces.