✏️ Constructivism
2017-2020
Recently on view: William King Museum of Art in Abingdon, Virginia, Fall 2020
At the intersection of the imaginary and the possible lie my still life investigations. Through these playful, eccentric constructions, I give life to ordinary, commonplace items by casting them as characters in miniature narratives, presented in a suspended, decisive moment for viewers to solve.
Inspired by a lifelong love for collecting small objects and my career as an educator, much of my subject matter reflects my experience in the classroom. Constructivism is named for Piaget’s theory of Constructivist learning, which suggests that humans learn and construct knowledge and meaning from their own personal experiences.
Through these still life vignettes, I draw upon viewers’ collective, shared memories of these common household objects and nostalgic ephemera. Tinkering with gravity, color, and the quickly disappearing afternoon light as materials to be manipulated alongside the physical objects, the images elevate a curious investigation of our peculiar, complex, and meaningful world.
