Artist Statement:

To be generous and light; rarified and common.  To be beautiful.  To convey a sense of place. I want my artwork to be as poetic as my geography is. Beautiful, though not serious.  Approachable, but a little curious.

I live in the center of 13 million acres of wetlands, called the Yukon Flats. My community, Fort Yukon, Alaska, is a Gwich’in village of roughly 600 people, 8 miles above the Arctic Circle. I am influenced by the culture of my non-western community – the Gwich’in value family, hard work and humility; they sustain a beautiful decorative arts tradition.

This place is austere and generous; unique, but also totally basic. It lends itself to contrasts. I try to capture this feeling, these contrasts, in my work. I pair simple silhouettes with ice and sky colors; generate repeating, tessellating patterns that have missing pieces or fall apart as they cover a curve; draw clouds with clay. I aim to make work that is special; a Village-Arctic-Neo-Alaskana; work that is lovely.