As a child growing up, I was always in love with the ritual of “dress up”. Whether it was my dolls, various reluctant pets, or myself, it was always an activity I loved. It is not surprising then that adornment has become the medium through which I express myself and bring my fantasy world to life. Jewelry and accessory have the potential to lead many lives. One particular piece can change entirely by putting it on one body as opposed to another, or by removing it to see it as an object. In fashion, the body is the canvas and the runway becomes the moment of performance. My work uses the body in much the same way where the wearer becomes performer. Through this act, we construct personal forms of armor, or “power suits”, to face the battlefield of the outside world. In harnessing this act of adorning and what it encompasses, I am consistently challenged as both designer and maker. Creating alter egos, whether subtly flirtatious or overtly sexual, demure or flamboyant, are some of the many ways in which these “power suits” can be concocted. The stories we project about ourselves daily, through how we adorn our naked bodies, become empowering. Myths versus reality, ascetic versus sensual, and beautiful versus ugly are some of the concepts from which I draw inspiration. These dualities are conceptually expressed in my work through physical combinations of opposing materials. Mixing mediums, through methods such as collaging, beading, needlepointing, knitting, and sewing, are integral in my designs. With alternative materials, such as feathers, textiles, and yarns, I add softness and new scintillating sensations when juxtaposed with the hard, cold qualities of metal. Through combining such materials, I construct pieces that not only challenge one’s notion of what “pretty” is, but also inspire the way one thinks about body adornment. The objects I create become vessels that actualize the dualities I strive to express. In producing hybrids of materials, my need to explore these dichotomies is satisfied.

Provisional or unfinished images, forms and actions can sustain their status by continuing to change. This can resist programmed experience of their state, and shift their relationship as images within time. The sub-aesthetics of the unfinished and entropic can alter our understanding of where and how images are formed and located within time. My paintings each exist within their own emergent systems of time, structure and productive disorder. This thesis discusses these ideas in relation to DAY FOLDER and other work made during my MFA studies.

Opinions about Linguistics and Phonetics extrapolated to think about art and object-making, followed by an exposition of titles of recent work, including discussions about: stunting in All Star Cheerleading, rainbows, offset halo patterns, the common corn disease Crazy Top, failure, humility and the profound.

[AURA] is a collection of photographs of landscapes and objects that have been implicated in fringe beliefs, alternative narratives and the strange events that reside beyond the scope of our everyday experiences. These photographs represent the symbols used to describe phenomena and also concentrate on the areas surrounding the events. My investigation also examines how the affect of the landscape has contributed to the interpretations by those that witnessed it. As a photographic collection, [AURA] investigates issues related to truth, as well as the role of subjectivity versus objectivity in my photographic practice. By concentrating this discussion on issues of sensation and the objects used to symbolize and identify the encounters with peculiar phenomena, I have been attempting to place emphasis on the way the aesthetics of the photograph can speak to issues outside of the image.

My research in this thesis delves into the corruption of American culture and my personal experience with the academic institution of art school. I delineate my symbolic representation of a social agenda through images and objects that reference the absurdity of institutionalized art and the decay of socialist idealism in the realm of crafts and contemporary culture at large.

This thesis explores my personal mythology, and its relation to all things found not only in my studio practice but the work itself. Biographical anecdotes are shared as well as ideas on drawing, home décor, collecting, craft, art history, storytelling, and camp. Camp provides the space in which all aspects of my practice and work reside.

Many urban pet care and boarding facilities tend to rest on the outskirts of the community, in quasi-industrial and commercial areas. Far from the homes of the people who would use their services, the locations of these facilities are inconvenient for most. Students and the employed have trouble making time in their hectic schedules to give their pets the attention and activity they need to be healthy, and often, pets are left alone, sedentary, for a substantial portion of the day. But what if there was a pet care facility that was within walking distance from home that could provide pets what they were missing while teaching better care practices to pet owners? Located in Richmond’s Historic Fan District, the urban pet care center is surrounded mainly by residential housing, with some commercial spaces located nearby. The pet care center requires both indoor and outdoor spaces for the health and enjoyment of the animals that will be boarded. The challenge then is to find an area with an adjacent lot, as much of the Fan District is comprised of abutting row houses with minimal lawn area. The building is situated near busy thoroughfares used by the employed and students alike for optimal convenience. As part of the community of The Fan, the center will be open to anyone who wants to use the services offered, to people seeking knowledge on better care practices, and even to people who want to offer their affection and time to the pets. The center is meant to be an inviting place that is crisp and comfortable, much like the homes of the Fan District.

This thesis explores the integration of the built environment into an existing extrinsic experience. It considers how a place can become incorporated into a series of experiences in nature, while still maintaining it’s integrity as a singular space. It questions how the lines between nature and interior can be blurred, and how responses to essential existing conditions can provide a coalesced experience.

This is an adaptive reuse thesis project of an old warehouse on the south side of Richmond, Virginia. Through this project, the possibility of designing an art center to occupy the space is explored. This art center houses artist studios, gallery space as well as open studio space for art classes. The design concept establishes a building language and varies that language based on the space and its requirements. The final design also deals with the spaces in between, where one rule set meets another.

A park is a place of many uses. A place to: walk, sit, reflect, eat, play, gather, people-watch, work, re-energize. A park can be quiet, loud, busy, or slow, sometimes all at once. Parks bring together friends, family, and people who may not otherwise ever interact with each other. Everyone has their own place in a park. This park intertwines open, public space with intimate, private space throughout. The question of how to attain privacy within a potentially very bustling public space is examined in depth and carefully considered throughout this design process.