I frequently employ an experimental approach to odd and unlikely materials by meshing craft, sewing, sculpture and photo-based processes into the reproduction of objects, images and experiences. The resulting works offer up alternative narratives for personal, cultural and institutional histories that are underscored by a quirky materiality and an ironic take on the dark underbelly of contemporary life.

My recent project, Industry Unraveled, features images of abandoned industrial sites that I have photographed throughout the Rust Belt. My photographs are translated into woven tapestries produced by Walmart that draw attention to quick and affordable practices of online global commerce and the history of lost manufacturing in the Rust Belt. The process involves uploading my photographs to Walmart’s website where the files are processed into digitally woven versions of my images. I deconstruct the weavings by selectively pulling threads from the woven image combined with the addition of hand-dying, bleaching and manual collage that utilizes both hand sewing and a sewing machine. The combination of these processes creates a visual impression that the image is dematerializing and unraveling into a pile of disconnected threads cascading towards the floor.