As a native West Virginian, my work explores Appalachian themes that relate to the contemporary and historical environmental state of the region and its ties to overlooked people, places, and cultural schisms. With an academic background, my practice is research and narrative driven to create work that resonates generationally and reflects the cyclical nature of history. I incorporate discarded items like archival photos, thrifted clothing, and found objects from my personal life into the medium of painting and installation transposed with activated technology. I create hybrid craft practices in line with the environmental urgency of the region to give agency to its relationship to extraction, repurposing and reusing sewn and painted mementos to make them once again active. I constantly strive to represent the unspoken and pay homage to Appalachia, from coalminers, to snake charmers, craftsmen, musicians, and shamans; playing the role of caretaker and storyteller to those that are overshadowed by regional stereotypes, poverty, and ecological exploitation. Through the traditions of Appalachian art and craft combined with academic portraiture, I hope to reconstruct the importance of the Appalachian presence that permeates society through the shared environmental turmoil that the region has long been a victim of.
