Artist Statement

I am interested in animal representations that explore animality through our relationship with animals, and more broadly, our relationship with the other. The desire to discover what is animal can also lead to a greater understanding of what it means to be human. I focus on the boundaries between the two and investigate the various ways humans have been able to alter an animal's behavior. Shifting roles of the dominant and submissive, strong and fearful, powerful and powerless, serious and comical are contemplated as we strive to comprehend any wildness remaining both in animals, and within our own nature. A contradiction that may be characterized by both intimacy and exploitation continues to evolve and effect our attitudes toward each other. If an animal's personhood is acknowledged, its otherness can be re-conceptualized, and the other can turn into another.