Artist Statement
My multidisciplinary practice centers around relational variables as seen by way of theoretical function and material reasoning. In this series, titled “Standing Still” I have developed works which attempt to embody the spirit of those caught in the warzone of the Ukrainian genocide, and all those who struggle against oppression. I began making these works in February, just prior to the invasion. As they developed, the materials told me what they were about. Physically, these pieces are industrial materials reconstructed in a new way. Some are made from pieces of bridges and roads in my home city of Milwaukee, demolished and removed from their original locations.
Despite their alteration, their reconstruction demands their forms balance anew, standing on feet they didn’t have before I worked them into what they are now, just as many in Ukraine and elsewhere who must stand despite danger. They stretch upward, hang on the edge, balance haphazardly, and defy their own weights, sizes, and shapes, demanding their abilities by their new physical rendering, post-reconstruction. In this work I draw parallels between deconstructed material and the nature of perseverance in the face of Russian forces which attempt to deconstruct Ukraine’s cities and kill its people. I hope these works will resonate with all who persevere in the face of adversity and destruction, fear, anguish, war, terror, and violence.
