I assemble bright, whimsical mixed media wall hangings and soft sculptures from thrifted and donated fiber-based materials. The assemblages I create act as my avatar, revealing and resolving my recovery from an eating disorder in a playfully elusive way. The fabric, foam, and plastics I use are light, flexible, and strong; emblematic of my entwined experiences as a woman, artist, and mother. Cashmere, foam, and ribbons are pliable and can easily be pierced, pinned, glued, and clamped suggesting the ways we learn as girls to become malleable for the male gaze and the needs of others instead of our own. Conversely, the elasticity of my materials comforts me because it reminds me to be flexible with myself as I age and let go of old patterns of perfectionism and restriction. Processes of repetition, layering, attaching, and disconnecting are a source of empowerment for me because they liberate my materials from preconceived notions of what they should be and allow them to be something new.
