Statement of Work

•

We have difficulty accepting multiple, simultaneous identities in our current culture. A bread baker who is an artist, or a Buffalo Bills fan who is from the South, runs contrary to our facile, binary way of thinking. But art has the ability to be multifaceted, and its capacity to communicate plural meanings gives real power to cultural actions. Artists can transform dissatisfaction with the world into an image of something better, and it could be this imaginative transformation that leads us to hope and rejuvenation. I’m constantly exploring new ways of artistically engaging the public to achieve this exchange. With this goal in mind, I load my work with regional and spatial histories, everyday practices, civic structure, and community engagement.

My personal role incorporates facets of the artist, curator, organizer, documentarian, cook, and bread baker. All of this has resulted in the construction of things like a laundromat that doubles as a cultural center, a vinyl banner that transforms an abandoned property into a pop-up bakery, and community-focused dinners that generate micro-grants for various cultural projects in the KC area. My practice challenges the public imagination: infusing complexity and access, absurdness and rationality, service and function. I aim to place “art” in the realm of knowledge, tools, and experience by adopting a “blue collar” aesthetic. My hope is that my projects allow people to come to their own terms with art and the complexity of life.