Theses and Dissertations Collection

Using familiar utilitarian objects and household materials, I construct semi-autobiographical works from my fractured urban experiences. Acting as both barriers, portals and containers, I use materials such as tarps, fencing, fabric, concrete, and clay to create open narratives about struggles and triumphs found within ordinary life. These works explore reaching rock bottom, a period of shame and regret, when isolation and fear became my constant companions. Constrained in emotional turmoil, I chose to live in the margins—a lifestyle that left me craving the material and psychological comforts of home.In reflection, I carve out a relationship with my past through my works and discover new grounds to build a sense of security— no matter how precarious—from. I use the tactility of fabrics and the precision of building materials as a metaphor for comfort, maintenance, and structure abundant in domestic life. The malleability of clay informs the viewer of the resilience and adaptability of the human psyche. Through these material interactions, authentic vulnerability and tension form, allowing the viewer to deposit their allegory into the work and alleviating mine.