Artist Statement

Femininity and sexuality within our culture has continually been a focus of my work. Clothing and the female body have been my tools to communicate the confusion and attraction our culture has toward the female role as sex object. My constant struggle of attraction and repulsion toward this role are displayed through the extremities in the work. While the objects are attractive, they edge on ridiculous and are perhaps grotesque. Gibbosity is a deliberate move away from fashion as a communication tool. The focus has become the appendage while the fashion is recessive. I have created accessories for the body that I see as packaging for my cultural baggage, an exploration of how I carry this baggage and how it affects my interactions with the world around me. These protrusions reference specific styles of decoration in my region (Southern United States) and form the packaging for my social anxieties manifested in physical form.