What is my work about?
In my video and sculpture based practice I navigate issues of autonomy and dependence. These relationships are interesting to me from the personal perspective of motherhood as well as more formal interest in the sovereignty of form.
My body, in its absence and presence, is the catalyst and structure in my videos. I use green screen techniques to isolate and reveal the body in fragmented ?cut-outs?. I also incorporate fragments of objects, made and found, and choreograph myself with them; concentrating on movement and how a body can articulate form. While the videos center on the body?s experience with itself, my sculptural work focuses on the body?s experience with quotidian forms and familiar geometries.
Artist Statement
In my video and sculpture based practice I navigate issues of autonomy and dependence. These relationships are interesting to me from the personal perspective of motherhood as well as more formal interest in the sovereignty of form.
My body, in its absence and presence, is the catalyst and structure in my videos. I use green screen techniques to isolate and reveal the body in fragmented “cutouts”. I also incorporate fragments of objects, made and found, and choreograph myself with them; concentrating on movement and how a body can articulate form. In my two most recent videos, Teaching Tools and Necklace, I ventured into non-conventional ways of incorporating narrative; the parameters for narrative being pattern and transformation.
While the videos center on the body’s experience with itself, my sculptural work focuses on the body’s contact with quotidian forms and familiar geometries. Often concentrating on a specific object of utility, I make abstract iterations of it. Two forms I am currently scrutinizing are “Trays” and “Screens”. Trays are floor pieces that resemble container forms, which also appear in my videos. Screens are emergency blankets stretched over steel frames. I scrub off some of the reflective Mylar and the result is a, simultaneously, reflective and translucent partition. The screens are a nod to my video work, and are made in relation to the space they will occupy.
Video and object making are reciprocal parts of my practice. A sculpture, intended to be a stand-alone piece, is often fascinating to understand through the dimensionality of video; and the formal qualities of objects made for video are unique due to the custom utility built into them. The interconnection of the process between making objects and performing with objects also comes out in the display of my work. I project my videos on plexi-glass screens in ambient light along side of the sculptures. These screens function on the wall as well as free standing in space, essentially becoming objects. Similar to the content of the video, the display echoes a moving pattern floating in space. I am hoping to convey a duality of gravity-less autonomy, tethered by the reality of dependence.
CV
Education
MFA Virginia Commonwealth University, Sculpture + Extended Media. Richmond, VA.
BFA School of the Visual Arts. New York, NY.
Awards and Residencies
2014
Vermont Studio Center Full Fellowship
2013
Dedalus Foundation Industry City Studio Residency recipient.
Guest Lecturer for No Questions series at Cooper Union, New York, NY
2012
Recess Sessions Resident, New York, NY.
Dedalus Foundation MF A Fellowship Recipient. $20,000.
2012
Recipient of Graduate Grant form Virginia Commonwealth University.
$1,500.
2003
Recipient of Senior Traveling Grant from the School Of Visual Arts. $1,000.
Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions
2015
Three-Person Show at The Kitchen with Anna K. E. and Viola Yesiltac, curated by Lumi Tan. New York, NY
2014
Perfoming the Necklace, a performance. Essex Flowers, New York, NY.
2013
Hip Openers, solo show at Nurture Art, Brooklyn NY
Alina Tenser and Bill Jenkins, two-person show at The Suburban, Oak Park, IL
Holistic Approach, solo show at The Intercourse, Brooklyn NY
2012
Whiff of Black Ice Thesis exhibition at Anderson Gallery, Richmond Va
Select Group Exhibitions
2014
Circles, curated by Marco Antonini at Elizabeth Foundation, New York, NY
Material Art Fair, Regina Rex booth, Mexico City
2013
Table Setting, Jancar Jones Los Angeles, CA
Still Moving, curated by Recess Activities at The James Hotel. New York, NY
The Made-up Shrimp Hardly Enlightens Some Double Kisses, Laurel Gitlen Gallery, New York, NY
Body Style, curated by Alisa Baremboym at Bull and Ram, Queens NY
2012
OUTvideo international festival of video art, Yekaterinburg Russia.
Crest, 1708 Gallery, Richmond VA.
Almost Famous, Reynolds Gallery, Richmond VA.
Suzanne, Artistsphere, Washington D.C.
ONWALLS, curated by Nancy Lupo at FAB Gallery, Richmond Va
2011
Soft Power, curated by Amanda Freidman and Elizabeth Hirsch at NURTURE Art. Brooklyn, NY