I grew up in a small town in rural Minnesota, and moved to Canada in 1997 to study at the University of Saskatchewan. My university experiences were largely with “activist” art outside the organized contemporary art community: artcars, and costumes for drag queens and radical cheerleaders. In 2003 I received two degrees, a in 4-year B.A. Sociology and a 3-year B.A. in Women’s and Gender Studies, focusing on critical theory and community development. Since then I’ve worked as a freelance designer, writer and thing-doer, as well as a professional volunteer.
Much of my recent practice wrestles with questions of belonging and “recognition by one’s peers”: How does a person become an artist, and how do we best perform our roles as art community members? I’m also particularly interested in cultural communities and the ways that identity and group membership are established through storytelling and gossip. Both my volunteer work and background in critical studies inform my fascination with labour/object production as they relate to conceptual art. In my ongoing performance project LadyLady Helping Services I offer my good intentions and “help” to artists (sometimes whether they ask for it or not).
Even when it deals with art/disciplinary issues, it’s important to me that my work also be accessible to and engaging of people outside the art community. My work is colourful and frequently incorporates humour and feelings of naughtiness, as well as a sense of irony and self-deprecation. I’m interested in practically everything, and my art reflects (and focuses and magnifies) my nerdy, awkward enthusiasm. Relatedly, issues of mass culture fandom, sidekicks and mid-century science fiction often work their way into my art.
I like making things as much as thinking about them. I enjoy working with
“craft” materials like fabric, yarn, plastic canvas, felt and perler beads, am drawn to art with compulsive production techniques (like knitting and needlepoint).
September 30, 2007
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