As an adult, addressing my growing agoraphobia and anxiety through my art became a cathartic experience. Creating theatrical stage sets portraying my anxiety allows me to reconstruct memories internally, as well as externally through sculpture. My installations are home-centric in response to my reclusive domestic reliance -- and the sheer fact that they are too large to move.
The Sanctuary is almost entirely created from foam. I have often been asked why I recreate mundane objects, instead of using the actual found object. Using polystyrene makes the answer simple in that the creation of the memory is mine to form, perfect or rearrange at will – I am in control. My use of polystyrene began with the collection of recycled materials and expanded when I began to depend on the highly forgiving nature of the lightweight inexpensive material. Much of the foam I use is from recycled products, but I also procure foam in hardened blocks for sculpting, Styrofoam wedges, molded dowels, and pliant moldable air-dry foam. Rummaging through recycling bins and commercially discarded plastics, I found no end to the polymer wasteland.
