Both science and the body seem to converge in your work, is that a conscious theme?

Absolutely. My references have always been diverse, but science, systems, and the development of form are at the core. The body is currently my pervasive theme, sampling loosely from anatomical sources and reimaging how these mechanisms look, behave, and allow us to function. This is leading me to think seriously about technology and the body, but I’ve also spent years focusing on natural phenomena. Being an artist, not a scientist, I find some benefit in a novice relationship to these fields. The right concept can trigger an entire series and sometimes, the less I understand, the harder my imagination has to work.

The harder it has to work, or the freer it is to work?

Sure, the freer it is to work. My process doesn’t ask for conclusive results, allowing me to stay with the questions and experimentation.

Apart from the artistic discoveries you make in the process of doing the work, has it led you to any personal insights about science, systems, self, body, etc…? And if so, can you give us an example?

I’ve been spending time at construction sites these days, watching cranes lift some order out of a generally haphazard scene. My impulse, of course, is to get a small glimpse into how this imperfect process works and how it relates to the nature of growth and change. The engine here is really being fueled by issues of causality, adaptation, and the role of order and disorder in shaping things: self, body, nature, history, thought. Our desire to draw stable conclusions is interesting. Sometimes I invert an interpretation just for exercise. The fields I’m most interested in have a requisite need to provide definition while recognizing what’s beyond our control and understanding.

You’ve just finished two series of work. Based on these musings and probings do you have an idea of what’s next?

I’ve been thinking more about the body’s relationship to technology. Being this beautiful assemblage of parts and operations, the body also fails all of the time. It reacts to varying physical and psychological states and has limits to its functioning. I’ve been imagining devices that either intervene when disruption arises or that extend the body’s natural capacity, such as the ability to navigate uninhabitable terrains. Breathing is serving as a perfect starting point, as it’s part voluntary and involuntary and provides such a strong link between interior and exterior conditions. Some ideas are drawing based, but I’ve also been thinking sculpturally again. I’m starting there; we’ll see where it goes.