Artist Statement
Seattle’s Duwamish Valley has been a constant driving force in my creative practice since my move to the area in 1998. This has evolved from creating shared experiences in my community through ongoing projects, such as the Georgetown Super 8 Film Festival, to a practice in textiles and technology that fluctuates from studio work to socially engaged practice. This work encompasses my interests and reflects a change to holistic approaches that are realistic for my body in the aftermath of illness. Through this experience, I found connections between plants, color, and healing which motivates the bulk of my current work.
As an artist with a focus on textiles and technology, I look for intersections with these forms that relate to my community. Much of this recent effort has been through research into plant dye from local and invasive foliage and a new body of work I am building around plant phytoremediation. Working with the natural pigments in my community, I develop series such as the Camoufleur project to create camouflage that reverses the intentions of this textile to reveal hidden histories, HtFaD (How to Felt About Dyeing) to enact a meditative process of dealing with illness and loss, and Dye Pharm to explore plant technology through textile dye and pigments..
Teaching art (sculpture, textiles, film, sound, electronics, painting, and drawing) and organizing participatory art-making events complement and complete my practice. Just as I seek ways to combine different contexts, techniques, and media to tell a complex story, bringing people together to make art in a communal context creates a rich narrative and the opportunity for deep listening and understanding.
EDUCATION
2013 MFA, University of California Santa Cruz, Digital Art and New Media
2004 MFA, University of Washington, Fiber Arts
1996 BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
EXHIBITIONS
Solo
2025 Georgetown Steam Plant, Local Color, Seattle, WA
2018 Pepper House, Narrowcasting, Kochi, India
2008 Grey Gallery, Un Titled, Seattle, WA
2007 4 Culture Gallery, Independence, Seattle, WA
2005 Capitol Hill Arts Center, Jars n’ Jugs, Seattle, WA
Group
2021 Prairie Underground, Narrowcasting, Seattle, WA
2016 Home is Where the HeArt Is, Oxbow Gallery, Seattle, WA
2015 Process and Product, Lancaster, PA
2014 Bloom, Lighthouse Point, Santa Cruz, CA
2013 Bring It!, Zero1 Garage, San Jose, CA
2013 University of California Santa Cruz California, Thesis Show
2013 Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, Santa Cruz, CA
2012 The Firm, Seattle, WA
2010 AV Club, Super 8 Shorts, Seattle, WA
2010 Mighty Tieton, Tieton, WA
2008 Grey Gallery, Seattle, WA
2008 Ouch My Eye Gallery, Strange Co’s Couplings, Seattle, WA
2007 G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
2007 Artopia, Georgetown, Seattle, WA
2005 G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
2004 COCA Northwest Annual, Seattle, WA
2004 Henry Art Gallery, MFA Exhibition, Seattle, WA
2004 Steve Martin Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2003 Jacob Lawrence Gallery, CAA/MFA Northwest Juried Show
AWARDS, GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS and RESIDENCIES
2025 4Culture, Arts Project Individuals grant, King County, WA
2024 City Artist Grant, Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs
2024 4 Culture, Artists Special Projects Grants, King County, WA
2023 Georgetown Assoc. of Art & Culture teaching grant, Seattle, WA
2023 Georgetown Assoc. of Art & Culture project grant, Seattle, WA
2018 ZERO1 Arts Incubator Fellowship, Kochi, India
2017 Arteles Residency, Tampere, Finland
2015 Artist Trust GAP Grant, Seattle, WA
2014 Create Grant, Arts Council Santa Cruz
2014 Develop Grant, Arts Council Santa Cruz
2013 Rancho Paradiso Trailer Residency, Joshua Tree, CA
2013 Florence French Fellowship, UCSC
2013 Porter College Graduate Arts Research Grant, UCSC
2012 Florence French Fellowship, UCSC
2010 City Artist Grant, Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs
2008- 2010 Neighborhood and Community Arts Funding Award, Seattle
2007 4 Culture, Artists Special Projects Grants, King County, WA
2006 City Artist Grant, Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs
2006 4 Culture, Artists Special Projects Grants, King County, WA
2006 Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs Youth Arts Grant
2005 Artist Trust GAP Grant, Seattle, WA
SOCIALLY-ENGAGED ART PROJECTS
“waterplant,” King County Associate Artist for the West Duwamish Combined Sewer Overflow, 2023-2024
Georgetown Super 8 Film Festival & Super 8 Projects, 2006-Present, Founder
Narrowcasting, 2018, Zero1 American Arts Incubator, Kochi, India
Radidio, 2013-2014, Central California Site-Specific installations
Peddling Art, 2006-2007, Free art giveaway from a pedal powered sewing machine & printing press. Created in partnership with Kristen Ramirez.
Fabrication, 2005, Site-Specific Textile Installations around the Georgetown neighborhood.
CV
EDUCATION
2013 MFA, University of California Santa Cruz,
Digital Art and New Media
2004 MFA, University of Washington,
Fiber Arts
1996 BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
EXHIBITIONS
Solo
2025 Georgetown Steam Plant, Local Color, Seattle, WA
2018 Pepper House, Narrowcasting,
Kochi, India
2008 Grey Gallery, Un Titled, Seattle, WA
2007 4 Culture Gallery, Independence,
Seattle, WA
2005 Capitol Hill Arts Center, Jars n’ Jugs, Seattle, WA
Group
2021 Prairie Underground, Narrowcasting, Seattle, WA
2016 Home is Where the HeArt Is, Oxbow Gallery, Seattle, WA
2015 Process and Product, Lancaster, PA
2014 Bloom, Lighthouse Point, Santa Cruz, CA
2013 Bring It!, Zero1 Garage, San Jose, CA
2013 Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, Santa Cruz, CA
2012 The Firm, Seattle, WA
2010 AV Club, Super 8 Shorts, Seattle, WA
2010 Mighty Tieton, Tieton, WA
2008 Grey Gallery, Seattle, WA
2008 Ouch My Eye Gallery, Seattle, WA
2007 G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
2007 Artopia, Georgetown, Seattle, WA
2005 G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
2004 COCA Northwest Annual, Seattle, WA
2004 Steve Martin Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2003 Jacob Lawrence Gallery, CAA/MFA Northwest Juried Show
AWARDS, GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS and RESIDENCIES
2025 4Culture, Arts Project Individuals grant, King County, WA
2024 City Artist Grant, Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs
2024 4 Culture, Artists Special Projects Grants, King County, WA
2023 Georgetown Assoc. of Art & Culture teaching grant, Seattle, WA
2023 Georgetown Assoc. of Art & Culture project grant, Seattle, WA
2018 ZERO1 Arts Incubator Fellowship,
Kochi, India
2017 Arteles Residency, Tampere, Finland
2015 Artist Trust GAP Grant, Seattle, WA
2014 Create Grant, Arts Council Santa Cruz
2014 Develop Grant, Arts Council Santa Cruz
2013 Rancho Paradiso Trailer Residency, Joshua Tree, CA
2013 Florence French Fellowship, UCSC
2013 Porter College Graduate Arts Research Grant, UCSC
2012 Florence French Fellowship, UCSC
2010 City Artist Grant, Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs
2008- 2010 Neighborhood and Community Arts Funding Award, Seattle
2007 4 Culture, Artists Special Projects Grants, King County, WA
2006 City Artist Grant, Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs
2006 4 Culture, Artists Special Projects Grants, King County, WA
2006 Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural
Affairs Youth Arts Grant
2005 Artist Trust GAP Grant, Seattle, WA
SOCIALLY-ENGAGED ART PROJECTS
waterplant, King County Associate Artist for the West Duwamish Combined Sewer Overflow, 2023-2024
Georgetown Super 8 Film Festival & Super 8 Projects, 2006-Present, Founder
Narrowcasting, 2018, Zero1 American Arts Incubator, Kochi, India
Radidio, 2013-2014, Central California Site-Specific installations
Peddling Art, 2006-2007, Free art giveaway from a pedal powered sewing machine & printing press. Created in partnership with Kristen Ramirez.
Fabrication, 2005, Site-Specific Textile Installations around the Georgetown neighborhood.