Material Remains is a collection of work about the loss of two family members this past year. My studio became a place for grieving but also understanding the bitter sweet beauty that loss seems to bring. Caregiving, memory and the ultimate mystery of death are explored through painting, fibers, ceramics, photography, installation and video. I utilize objects and clothing left behind and transform them into artworks that explore presence in their absence. I use ritual and natural materials in memorial or commemorative actions of coming to terms. For me, beauty entered through the kindness of family, funerary rituals and the "material remains" of my father. I transform his writing and clothing into traces and shells using ceramic burnout techniques, resin casting and material experimentation. Work that involved repetitive mark making in large drawings and leaf cuttings became healing and meditative actions.
