Statement:

I investigate my environment by walking, observing, collecting, sorting, organizing, and experimenting with materials which present themselves in the place I inhabit. Above all, I am inspired by flora; I am drawn to plant materials, their fibers, fallen leaves, seeds, and seed pods. I am intrigued by the quiet strength and immense growing power of plants. I don’t limit my choice of materials to organic ones, and consciously combine materials of different origin. Many times, overlooked or discarded materials peak my curiosity, and sometimes I like to find a new purpose for their existence. My constructions reorganize inorganic, organic, and man-made materials and reimagine them in new forms. My practice is a continuously evolving conversation with material.

I prefer handling, touching stuff with my own hands; this allows me to understand how to engage with different qualities of matter. Material manipulations by simple primeval techniques result in haptic knowledge. This elemental understanding and learning based on touch and playful experimentation helps me to combine, rework, and transform these ingredients to generate new artifacts. My creative play is fueled by my curiosity and guided by my life experience and my reverence for nature.

As a visual artist, a scientist, and an immigrant I am concerned about communication and interpretation. The fragility of knowledge and of our understanding is an important motif in my work; which ultimately meditates on life, death, and renewal; just as all of nature is constantly in the process of transformation. Finally, my aim is to draw the viewers’ attention to the beauty of nature. I entice people to look more closely and to notice the commonly overlooked. I call on the observer to acknowledge and appreciate the ephemerality of all.