The cemetery-based work is inspired by time’s erosive patina and the eventual anonymity of the individual in favor of shared cultural experiences. Human connections, either by manner of death, employment, place of residence or place of burial are explored. The work includes paintings, works on paper and glass sculptures. The lines in the work are rubbings of the exteriors of grave stones, rather than the text that identifies the deceased, overlaid in layers that become an abstraction.

To make the paintings, sized canvas is draped over graves and the edges of the fabric-draped stones are rubbed with oil pastel. Back in the studio, a layer of paint is applied and wiped off, revealing the image which appears a bit like developing a film photograph. The headstones chosen range from the poignant to the intriguing to the everyday. One painting records the outlines of the headstones of local farmers who died in the 18th Century and another the graves of food service workers. The titles of the paintings reveal their story. Some titles are Neighbors on the Same Road, Area Murders Woven Together, Sudden Death and Train Wrecks. The overlapping outlines of headstones create an abstract image that is then transferred to glass through kiln-formed techniques.The shapes of the sculptures explore our use of emojis as a language that conveys an array of expression from banal to profound.

I think of my light-based sculptures as Frankenstein-like constructions brought to life by electricity. My interest in spirituality is evoked in the work’s tone which captures moments where the everyday becomes ethereal.