This chapter of my Blaze Breakers series began with an exploration of the semiotics of hunting textiles, particularly camouflage patterns. The somewhat moronic juxtaposition of invisibility (camouflage) and visibility (blaze orange) within hunting textiles is fascinating to me: the hunter must wear blaze orange to communicate their presence to other hunters (I’m not a bear.), yet also wear camouflage as a cloaking device to blend in with their surrounding landscape. “The hunter” and “the hunted” in these works can be interpreted metaphorically to communicate general themes such as in/visibility, dis/appearance, and honesty: camouflage is an illusion, a visible lie, so is blaze orange truthful?

The Hunter and The Hunted: Made to Measure presents a lexicon of essential elements and principles that establish the foundation of The Hunter and The Hunted series. The elements and principles of The Hunter and The Hunted are light, warmth, surface, measurement, visibility, organization, transformation, honesty, history, and time. Most of the projects included in the exhibition at McDaniel College were created specifically for the Rice Gallery and are grounded in both institutional and personal memories: I was a McDaniel College student from 2005–2007 and am currently a full-time faculty member. The space that is now the Rice Gallery served as the College’s library from 1909–1961, and for the duration of this exhibition, serves as a library for this body of work. I felt it important to present the building blocks of The Hunter and The Hunted series in an academic setting instilled with its own foundational elements: the seven liberal arts.

Zines, posters, and lenticular prints that are a part of The Hunter and the Hunted: Made to Measure series.

The Hunter and the Hunted focuses on the semiotics of textiles, particularly camouflage patterns and faux fur textures. I am interested in how these textiles communicate time and place, such as snowy winter time in the forest or autumn amongst the wetlands. Faux fur is so far removed from nature, often produced from manmade methods and materials yet mimicking the trophies of what were once living creatures. The juxtaposition of in/visibility within hunting textiles is fascinating to me: the hunter must wear this gaudy, blaze orange color to communicate his/her presence to other hunters yet also wear camouflage to blend in with his/her surrounding landscape.

Pizza Party Twister occurred during the Field Day exhibition at Artscape 2014 in Baltimore, MD and has also been included in the group exhibition, "Subversive Play: Artists Challenging Mechanisms of Control," at Structura Gallery in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The official Twister rules state that Twister is “the perfect fun starter for every party.” I agree with this statement but believe that playing Twister on a giant, delicious looking pizza is a more effective way of beginning what one hopes will be a fun, friendly gathering.

The object of the game is simple: to outmaneuver all other opponents in placing one’s hands and feet on different types of pizza toppings (mushrooms, pepperoni, basil, and olives) as directed by the spinner. Players may participate as individuals or as teams. If one person on a team falls or touches an elbow or a knee to the pizza surface, the entire team loses–this is serious pizza stuff. The referee will use a spinner to determine on which topping participants should place their hands or feet. Players must remove their shoes to participate. Whenever one player falls or allows an elbow or knee to touch the pizza, that player is out and the game continues until only one participant stands victorious. The winner is awarded a handmade ceramic golden pizza slice and is dubbed a Pizza Twisting Legend.

The set­-up of the game includes a large circular vinyl mat resembling a pizza that rests on top of Astroturf carpeting to give the game an authentic backyard feel. This is also known as the Pizzarena. Signage includes information about the game’s schedule.

Pizza Party Twister is a means of bringing out the competitive spirit of participants, allowing one to flex their yoga and Pilates muscles while simultaneously inducing the urge to satisfy a craving for hot, delicious pizza.

From January 18, 2015 to January 18, 2016, I collected data about my daughter's first year of life and created digital, timeline-like drawings about her daily schedule. I tracked the times of each nursing session, pumping session, nightly sleep and morning wake-up, daytime nap, diaper, bath, bottle, and solid food acceptance. I began the project with hand-dyeing samples of wool, scanning the samples and adjusting them into digital files, and then arranging the “tiles” into blanket-like digital compositions.

My current work is rooted in a years-long investigation of the color blaze orange in the context of rural and urban space and place. I was first introduced to this color while residing in Maine, where residents of the small town that I lived in were advised to wear blaze orange vests when spending time outdoors during the hunting seasons. Historically, guides in Maine suggested that hunters adopt this gaudy color as a “safeguard against the ignoramus.” I am interested in blaze orange as a warning sign and as a symbol of safety amidst danger: its visibility suggests that one be cautious of their surroundings. What happens if this color fails to communicate its message?

Blaze Breakers is an ongoing, multimedia project that utilizes analog and digital processes to distort, degrade, and destroy the color blaze orange. Four years ago I scanned a blaze orange bandana for use in a book I was producing about hunting textiles called Under Cover. The scanner’s software could not fully process the bright orange color and inserted glitchy green artifacts into the image. The technology could not represent the color accurately and my obsession with “breaking” blaze orange was born. Textile manipulation, digital image capturing, Instagram filtering and compression, traditional 35mm film processes, and projection methods are some of the technical approaches used in this continued investigation. I am interested in presenting the viewer with the artifacts of this once bright, purposeful color. The technical means to destroy the color produce new translations of what once were vibrant, urgent messages.

Zine projects from 2016-2018.

An ongoing body of work beginning in 2012.

An ongoing body of work beginning in 2012.

One of Farmington, Maine's earliest industries was the production of wool, and now that winter has arrived, I find myself relying on this material in my everyday life more than I ever had before living here. My goal with this series is to depict the atmospheric quality of this wintery landscape through materials that have significance to Farmington and are also essential to winter survival. Each piece is created by needle-felting alpaca and sheep's wool onto wool roving stretched over a wooden frame. The piece is then photographed and printed on waterproof vinyl.