As a child I had a desire, a patience, a skill for untangling knotted things: necklaces, bits of string, a jump rope, the dog’s leash. With my wagon I collected plant debris, catkins, and maple seeds. Building forts in the hedgerow of the back yard in my suburban Chicago neighborhood was a favorite activity.

 

Over the past 35 years my art practice has evolved and threaded its way back to these childhood fascinations. I am still a gatherer of things. Walking, important to my practice, is a way to begin. It opens the route between the external world and the inner world of the studio. On my ritual paths, I notice changes that occur — daily and seasonally — recording what attracts my attention, 'navigating' my way through time.

 

I work in series exploring theme and variation. Currently I am interested in natural and man-made structures. In my most recent series I find familiar objects while wandering in nearby places: chairs in the school yard, traffic cones on the street, suspended tarps. These capture my attention. I find curious stories in the odd placement of ordinary things. After quickly photographing, I delete any recognizable context and begin drawing, creating visual narratives for these otherwise mundane encounters.