Year: 2019-2022 Dimensions: 28’ x 8’ Medium/ Technique: Thread/ Machine Embroidery **Produced with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council “Prairie Plant Studies” originates from pressed flower specimens indigenous to the Wisconsin prairie that I studied at the Wisconsin State Herbarium during a 2019 research visit to the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The work investigates how botanical forms move between scientific documentation and decorative tradition—tracing connections between herbarium specimens, textile patterns, and wallpaper designs. Each embroidered study is created by sewing into water-soluble fabric, building up dense layers of stitched lines and crossing threads. When the fabric dissolves, the thread drawings hold together through their own interlocking structure, suspended without backing. This technique echoes the subject matter itself: just as prairie plant ecologies function as interconnected biological networks where individual species sustain each other through root systems and symbiotic relationships, these thread works depend on accumulated connections to maintain their integrity. The species I reference—goldenrod, milkweed, and other native plants—are markers of memory and place. The recent movement to restore these ecosystems made me think of how these plants represent both loss and the possibility of regeneration. This work has been included in the following exhibitions: Exhibition: Suspended Landscapes at the Chazen Museum of...
Year: 2019-2022 Dimensions: 30’ x 54’ x 30’ Medium/ Technique: Chiffon, Netting, Digital Print **Produced with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council Ode to a Prairie shifts the perspective of a traditional prairie landscape, inviting viewers to walk underneath—rather than through—a floating field of indigenous Wisconsin plants. This large-scale installation for the Chazen Museum of Art’s Paige Court explores plants as markers of memory and place, referencing species including goldenrod and milkweed while engaging with the recent movement to restore Wisconsin’s prairie environment, which was almost completely destroyed by decades of farming. The work transforms the 1,713 square foot central atrium through approximately 50-75 large silk prints measuring 5-10 feet wide by 15-45 feet long. Individual embroideries based on pressed flower specimens from the Wisconsin State Herbarium are sewn at specimen size, scanned at high resolution, and printed on transparent silk or sheer polyester fabric. I then cut and stitch into these prints to add space and air, disrupting the surface and creating organic edges while adding metallics, additional embroidery, and appliquéd chiffon for texture. The installation creates a lace-like environment that contrasts dramatically with the heavy marble brutalist interior, bringing textile forms that burst forth and overtake the ordered architectural space. Source material from the herbarium is altered, cropped, repeated, and mutated to reference repeat patterns found in fabrics, lace, and wallpaper—expanding embroideries from 10-inch units to monumental 10-foot scale to address the site’s grandeur. Each piece hangs from a single point, allowing the work to spin and sway, creating changing compositions as air currents move through the court. These...
Title, Year: Stand In For Home, 2009-2010 Dimensions: 8′ h x 8′ w x 4.5′ d (Dimensions Variable) Medium/ Technique: Thread/ Machine Embroidery * produced with the support of the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council This installation is a thread rendering based on my kitchen table in my previous home. I am interested in the vulnerability of thread in relation to the home, as both things share qualities of fragility. Though susceptible to breaking or unravelling, thread demonstrates remarkable strength when stitched together—a duality that mirrors how domestic spaces can feel both very present and impermanent. Making this piece required me to revisit, remember, and recreate a space that I called home but is no longer mine. The process involved reconstructing specific details from memory and photographs: the contours of the chairs and table, the details of the wallpaper and window. Through accumulated hours of stitching, I rebuilt the space by stitching onto water soluble fabric, translating three-dimensional forms into their flat embroidered equivalents. The embroideries are hung from the ceiling at different depths to create the impression of a space. There is one ideal viewing position where the elements align to form a cohesive scene. Installing the work this way allows the pieces to move and sway with air currents, adding a kinetic quality to the static image of domestic life. The chairs and tables are lifted from the floor to hover, creating a ghost-like presence. Visitors can walk behind the work to view it from the reverse, where the shadows cast on the wall resemble pencil lines, further emphasizing the drawn quality of the...
Year: 2022 Dimensions: 16’ x 16’ x 10’ Medium/ Technique: Powder Coated Hand Bent Wire **Produced with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts Clouds of Colour, commissioned for Harbourfront Centre’s main entrance foyer, is conceived as both drawing and sculpture—an installation where hundreds of individually hand-formed wire units hang from single points to create a tactile environment filled with line, colour, and movement. Each sculpture is shaped from black annealed wire using lashing and bending techniques, then powder-coated in vibrant plant-inspired colours: yellows, pinks, purples, reds, and oranges. The accumulation of these units, ranging in size, creates a large expansive canopy that envelops viewers as they pass through this transitional gathering space. Through the repetition of floral imagery and circular motifs, the installation achieves a presence that is both delicate and substantial, activating the passageway with shifting layers of shadow and light. My interest in this work stems from finding connections between scientific research and decorative patterns found in textiles and wallpaper. While much of my practice involves creating lace-like embroidered pieces by sewing into water-soluble stabilizer—building stitched lines on a temporary surface that dissolves to leave only thread—Sunset Canopy translates this approach into wire. Here, colourful wire forms replace thread to create lines that exist in space, shaped on-site during installation to respond to the architecture. The work lives in a place of movement and gathering, inviting people to pause and look up—to encounter a daily moment of wonder as floating forms shift with ambient air currents. I believe strongly in art that welcomes everyone, making space for joy, care, and reflection through the sensory...
