Tell us about your background and how that has had an influence on your work and on you as an artist.

I was a painter for many years. The paintings were always constructed and they were coming out further and further from the wall. I decided to stop making paintings and make sculpture. I posed a limitation on myself to create color by the materials I used. My sculptures were always mixed media and I drew from natural, manufactured and found materials. I have always enjoyed combining materials that are at odds with one another.

The concept of the artist studio has a broad range of meanings in contemporary practice. Artists may spend much of their time in the actual studio, or they may spend very little time in it. Tell us about your individual studio practice and how it differs from or is the same as traditional notions of “being in the studio.”

For me, being in the studio has always been what my practice is. I love being there. It is the place that I can think, ponder, create, get my hands dirty and generally have activities that are set apart from my everyday life.

What roles do you find yourself playing that you may not have envisioned yourself in when you first started making art?

Since I generally use non-traditional materials, I find that my work requires more and more investigation into the nature and behaviors of some of my materials. 

Because I earn my living as a graphic designer, I work whenever my business work flow allows me to break away and get into my studio. I am fortunate that as a freelancer, my office and studio are in the same space, so it allows a degree of fluidity. I also work on weekends and holidays. Generally once a year I set aside time for a retreat, either in my studio or at a residency.

How has your work changed in the past five years? How is it the same?

I had been working on 3 series using computer detritus for about 7 years. A few years ago I decided that I did not want to continue on that path until it became a shtick. I started investigating new materials to use. It has been a period of trial and may failures. I have recently been using plastic bags which has led me to do both sculptures and “paintings,” using the plastic bags as color and painting on top. Additionally, I started doing “drawings” which are a combination laser print and drawing.

Have you ever been pulled in the direction of a pursuit other than being an artist? What are your other interests? 

I have never really wanted to do anything as my vocation but being an artist. The necessity to have an income has been a major distraction from that pursuit. Recently I have begun taking accordion lessons in order to play klezmer and tango music. It is relaxing and I find having a hobby does not require the focus that being in the studio does.