Sculptures
Free the form inside the material.
In working with sculpture, I have discovered just how capable I am when I use my hands, and it is such a unique feeling to render the objects of my imagination.
'Anti-Rape Kit', poplar, woodstain and ribbon, 30x2.5", 2024.
'Anti-Rape Kit', poplar, woodstain and ribbon, 30x2.5", 2024.
‘Anti-Rape Kit’ is my personal response to the egregious Pelicot Trial that began in September 2024. Gisele Pelicot was drugged and mass-raped by her husband and men he recruited online and in his French town. It is such a strange feeling, to know that you better protect your daughter by arming her with a weapon - pepper spray, taser, gun - than by trusting others to not assault and violate her. Truly. What a dystopian fact of life, how unacceptable is it that the epidemic of violence against women is looked at with such passivity. When I exhibited this sculpture, I was warned by audience members that I should ‘be mindful’ when dealing with this sort of subject matter. That warning, I think perfectly capitulates the absurdity of this situation. Oh - and Dominique Pelicot only received a 20 year sentence for 92 unique counts of rape. Personally, I think a life sentence doesn’t even come close to being an appropriate response for his depravity.
I sanded and pressed two 2x33x1” planks of poplar wood together, cut it into an octagonal cylinder on a table saw, and turned the cylinder on an electric lathe until I had freed the form of the baseball bat from inside the wooden block. I then sanded the bat with 5 different grains, until it could practically slip through my fingers when I held it. I applied two coats of oil-based woodstain, re-sanded to achieve a worn look and finally wrapped red ribbon around the grip. The tag reads, ‘TO MY LITTLE GIRL’.
'40-LOVE', mdf, wire, spray paint and string, 30x13x2", 2024
‘40-Love’’ is a commissioned piece I created while at Anderson Ranch, an experience afforded to me by the Stanford Art Department when they awarded me the Sustainable Sculptures Scholarship in Spring 2024. The scholarship covered flights, accommodation, meals and the class fee for attending one of Anderson Ranch’s Summer Series Classes.
I shaped the racket from a 32x15x2 piece of particleboard, starting first with a bandsaw to cut the outside of the racket. Then, I used a drill to create an opening for the inside and shaped it with a handheld jigsaw. I clamped the racket down and routered the inner and outer edges before taking it to belt sander to remove any imperfections on the handle. I applied a primer coat, spray painted it white and used a drill to puncture holes in the frame for the wire. I threaded 1mm aluminum wire into the frame and secured it with industrial hot glue. I then used a boxcutter blade to remove excess glue, painted the wire pink and wrapped simple string around the handle. Finally, I ornamentalised the racket with a hot-pink trim design before packing her up and shipping her to my client, Rebecca.
'UNSAFE', pinewood, 3d printed material, acrylic paint, 5x5x5' (125sqft). 2024
‘UNSAFE’ is a satirical installation piece I created that comments on the work-reward system. The piece features a fully functional vault door that latches via a 3D-printed pulley and gear system. Despite the sophistication of the door however, the safe doesn’t have walls to protect what the door obfuscates from vision. Funny, that.
I procured twelve 5x2x1” planks of pinewood and shot nails through eight of the planks to create four v-shaped pieces. I then secured these pieces to the remaining four single planks, creating the skeleton of my safe, which I routered once assembled. I worked with a team of Stanford Product Design majors to CAD and print the lock system, which I attached to a 5x5x1” square of pine that I partially cut and reinforced (this came to be my door). I then primed the whole structure, painted it industrial-grey and went about securing burlap sacks and fake cash as props for the inside. This sculpture was exhibited at the Stanford FashionX Market Event and was the central installation.
'Property Of', pine, woodglue, acrylic, 10x8x6", 2023
'Property Of', pine, woodglue, acrylic, 10x8x6", 2023
‘Property Of’ is the wooden piggy-bank of two imagined kid-brothers, Kenny and Junior. It is the first sculptural project I made while at Stanford, and borne from a large web of narrative storytelling I conceptualized for FORTYTWO CO LLC. I build this piggy-bank out of four pieces of beechwood that I cut on the bandsaw and sanded on a disc sander. This was one of four projects I completed for a Fine Art Foundations 3D/4D course I took as a sophomore, and was my first go at physically realizing a figment of my imagination so steeped in lore that I almost gave myself artists’ block. Today, Property Of lives in my room in San Diego, a relic of my first steps in the medium of sculpture.