ARTIST STATEMENT

My art practice is multidisciplinary, I engage with several mediums and techniques. My primary focus is clay and textiles, and the combination of the two.

I have been creating with clay for forty-five years. I was initially captivated with clay because of the immediacy, the transformative qualities, and the endless possibilities it offered. It took me back to my childhood memories of making mud pies under the hot Oklahoma sun and a connection to the earth.

I know my passion for textiles and creating via a needle and thread are directly driven by being taught to sew at a young age by my grandmother.

Influences that I return to time and time again are the human form, variations of the body, and concepts related to the natural world. Landscape related work speaks to the importance and memory of time and place.

I’m interested in how we adorn ourselves for certain purposes and the transformative experiences we are allowed by this process. These ideas are realized by the making of clay and textile articles of clothing such as dresses, moccasins and even purses. They are metaphors for how we see our place in the world and the influences of culture.

As an Osage artist the work I want to express comes from a multitude of places. It can be based on childhood memories, experiences, dreams, social issues, and everyday encounters. I may be compelled to create work after reading a great story or witnessing a powerful event. I am inspired by family stories, and the narratives found in the culture and history of Osage people.

Much of the work I create reflects the early Osage notions of duality, such as earth and sky, male and female. We live in a time where there is a disconnect from the natural world with little regard to the importance of our environment. By articulating the concepts of balance and the symbiotic relationships found throughout life and nature, I hope to deepen our understanding of the intersection of all living things.

I’m simply making an expression about being alive and moments we can all relate to. I want to dispel the many myths and stereotypes surrounding native people and cultures. The work I make signifies a continuum of thought, knowledge, and the essence of who we are as indigenous peoples living in a modern, chaotic, and challenging world. I want to convey the beauty and importance of other cultures and the thought that there are many ways of looking at the world.

When we can look through another lens, one different from mainstream society, we can begin to acknowledge and hopefully appreciate what other cultures continually contribute to the place we call home.