At Best
I find used, soiled, discarded, often familial objects and using art agents like encaustic, stretcher frames, or pigment, I change them into new things. The practice of tangibly redeeming salvaged forms and freezing them in a moment of restoration is empowering. The dejected materials I use have related stories to my own. Through their re-creation, I feel heard (yet still protected) while the objects tell their specific stories as a metaphor for mine. In this symbiotic way, I give them voices, and in return, they speak for me. These pieces are a physical manifestation of the hope of transformation that enables me to face the injustice and inequity I experience and also see in the world. As the artworks exist in their renewed state, they push into a shared space with the viewer, engaging and encouraging them with the redemption process.