My work is an investigation of memories and experiences of displacement. As a foreigner, I often find myself in a strange space between familiar and unfamiliar. I use various three-dimensional media to explore and depict these experiences, dreams and memories, especially as they relate to my personal history. I overlap these dreams and memories, varying the media and shifting scale, so that the line between real and surreal gets blurred and one becomes both a viewer and a part of the installation. Through the application of different materials and media, including wood structures, metal smithing, drawing and ceramic objects, I approach the questions I have about experiencing displacement and the psyche.
The process of creating the artwork evolves from disrupting normalcy. By creating seemingly ordinary scenes and disrupting them with strange details I am inviting the viewer to peer into my mind. What they find might not be what they expect and will leave them questioning the meaning of the symbols I use. The absence of figures is intended to increase the eeriness and make the experience immersive.
In my most recent work, the show title Almost Familiar is referring to the balance between recognizable and unfamiliar. Each piece is representing a memory or a dream scene I have experienced. Tension is created when the lines between the two blur, through scale shift and unexpected details. Each sculpture is a vital part of the puzzle, containing a bit of familiar, suspension and mystery, mirroring the complex nature of the human experience and psyche. Parts of the sculptures are left unfinished as a reminder that this person, myself, is incomplete and that the story continues.