My Projects

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  Between Earth and Sky

  The iconic forests of Eugene have served as a constant for the city since its founding, serving as the catalyst for prosperity through its generations. This led to a study of the processes used to convert trees into lumber turning them into man-made materials completely unrecognizable from their original forms. Conversely, aircraft construction techniques create sweeping forms from rigidly dimensioned materials. Playing off this reverse relationship, tree forms were reimagined as assemblies of wire mesh and suspended above the main entryway. Depending on where they are experienced or the time of day, the sculptural tree forms will appear differently, in certain instances appearing to hover within the space while at others making one feel as if they are immersed in a forest. It is intended to be both referential to the area’s history and culture but at the same time to maintain a mysterious or spiritual quality acknowledging its past connections to the natural world.

  2022 CODAawards Entry 2023 CODAawards Entry

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  Between Wind and Water

  Located in a health and human services facility that aids individuals in transition and within a community in change, this artwork is composed of scale model remnants of locally significant watercraft, reassembled and reimagined, whimsically coming to life in a process of ongoing metamorphosis. Appearing as a school of fish, these anthropomorphic compositions swirl above the entrance lobby, the main crossing point within the facility, while referencing specific archetypes of marine vessels that have inhabited the adjacent coast.

  2021 CODAawards Entry

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  Collective Transitions

  Collective Transitions plays off of our perceptions of the whimsy and magic of flight. Lightheartedly referencing the function of “paperwork” in both work and play, it demonstrates the interplay between man-made forms and natural movement. Hundreds of aerodynamic objects transitioning from traditional aircraft to classic hand-folded paper planes, gracefully flocking like birds inside the confines of a business environment, acknowledges our memory of place while implying the social narratives that can occur within it. The installation includes 800 individually folded metal planes suspended within the 40’ x 40 x 40’ three-story entrance lobby animated by an LED lighting array.

  2020 CODAawards Top 100 2020-project

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  Connecting Flights

  An entrance canopy for a mixed-use development in Pasadena, California composed of 400 folded "aerogami" shapes "flocking" together in the interconnected five-story space above the main entrance plaza. Exploring the different types of social connectivity between residents and passersby both at ground level and vertically, the individual forms imply multiple local references while their paths imply any number of real or imagined narratives and mimic the fluidity and rhythms of conversation.

  2020-project 2021 CODAawards Entry CODAawards 2021 Top 100

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  Emergence

  The Health Sciences Building at Central Washington University fosters a sense of community and serves as a gathering point for faculty, students, and staff alike. In addition, both the campus and the city of Ellensburg are in close proximity to the surrounding natural environment, a relationship that has defined the aesthetics and personality of the area. I envisioned hundreds of insect forms selected from species commonly used in fly patterns used by the many local fisherman suspended in the three-story entrance lobby. They are intended to recognize the new facility’s role in bringing together the department as well as its function as a campus crossing point. Composed in three groupings mounted at different levels and appear as if emerging from the nearby Yakima River, the swirling compositions reference the swarming, schooling, and flocking found in nature and play off the area’s vernacular by connecting local culture to the physical environment. Illuminated, they mimic the natural phenomenon of insects being attracted to light, a traditional symbol of knowledge and education.

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  Storybank

  The overarching concept of this work is focused on the patient’s journey and providing a sense of inspiration, hope and community. Playing off the adjacent rivers as well as the city’s industrial past, I focused on the history of glass artisans and manufacturers who impacted the area. A lesser-known fact about the city is that glass manufacturing predated that of steel and in fact, the Monongahela River was used to float cases of product downstream for loading and shipping. The combination of these elements suggested images of messages in bottles and their relationship to things like wishing trees and floating lanterns – all things that carry within them the thoughts and aspirations of their creators. I envisioned hundreds of these glass vessels each filled with an individual message or wish donated by patients and staff drifting through the space and ascending as they reach the vertical entrance of the building. Appearing at first as a colorful current of glass, upon closer inspection, unique designs and shapes can be identified alluding to specific points in the city’s timeline.