I find inspiration in Nature and the human body: the dense midwestern prairie, the chartreuse of city-pond greens, the vastness of the Lake Michigan horizon, but also, in the similarities between my curved hips and the gentle bend of a sand dune’s summit; the impermanence of physical imperfections and the impermanence of a budding spring flower. In my work I try to find connections between my body and the world in which I live in hopes of exploring greater existential questions about both.

My process is impacted by the certainty and uncertainty inherent in collaborating with Nature. Materials such as natural dye can be temperamental; the dye bleeds, the colors shift, and hours (or days) later the result is a totally different image. My joy in watching the natural world around me is in its unpredictability, and nothing closer matches that, in my opinion, than the unpredictability of the changing body. At the same time, I find joy in the knitting of an acorn-dyed tapestry that echoes the predictable repetition I might find in radially patterned coneflower petals. In my work, I try to honor the certainty of Nature’s cyclical rhythm while also finding harmony in Nature’s impermanence by incorporating both in my process.

The certainty and uncertainty that exist in both my body and the natural world around me is something I find endlessly fascinating and mysterious. Exploring both subjects through my practice I find ways in which they intersect and influence one another. The connections help me better understand myself.