Experiments in Storytelling

I make mixed media works that explore the concepts of visual literacy and storytelling. Some are intended to push the boundaries of what a “book” can be. Others use collections of objects as a form of narrative.

Edward Tufte has described confections like these as “miniature theaters of information,” but the real drama happens in your imagination, where information gives way to feelings, memory, hopes and fears. Storytelling allows us to engage our imaginations as we build images from words. But what happens when images and objects are telling the story?

I am fascinated with visual literacy, the leap we take as imaginative narrative transcends an object’s material existence--an involuntary response as we try to order, interpret and construct meaning.

Inspired by the work of Joseph Cornell, Louise Nevelson, Betye Saar, Mark Dion and others, I seek to tell stories using text, found and crafted objects, traditional and experimental woodworking techniques, and book arts.