This Fall, 2025, I expected a quieter exhibition preparation phase, but that changed. It's exactly what the work deserved. Starting October 6, I have a solo show at the Grosvenor Art Gallery, SUNY Cobleskill. Usually I would busy myself with creating at least one new work, but this time I brought what I had stored (since the work is all recent). Even without the pressure of a new work to make, per usual, preparation for show was still a significant task.

This exhibition features 3 sculptures, 7 medium to large framed sculptural works, and a collection of 15 small works (ink drawings, pastels, and small sculptural works). Surprisingly, I even could have pulled out more but when you have an opportunity such as this the blank wall space is equally as important as the filled spaces, allowing the works to breathe and expand.

There are a couple things that I'm most excited about regarding this exhibition:

1. It's the first time I'm seeing the full portfolio of works together in a space. Artists often don't get to experience this, as creating usually happens in isolation. Seeing my works in dialogue with each other is moving. I find myself reliving the experiences of finding these places, studying them over time, planning the works, and the challenges/opportunities while making the artworks. Building a body of work this size is a journey, in my case that spans nearly a decade, when I began making this vein of work. The earliest work in the show is from 2018, latest 2025.

2. I had the opportunity to create a salon wall of small works, that aims to showcase my process while honoring the works in their entirety as finished works. My flat file storage is full with preparatory works that serve as sketches for the larger artworks as well as a bit of planning materials in the form of swatches, application tests, writing and bits of information I have thought or written about (as I often listen to books or podcasts while I work) This wall of works sends me down memory lane, a curious journey through my brain, that allows me to fully appreciate the moments I do not always take the time to appreciate when I'm up against a deadline or self-assigned goal.

Layer by Layer, will be on view at Grosvenor Art Gallery at SUNY Cobleskill until December 12, 2025, with an reception on Friday, November 7, 4 to 6pm.

Layer by Layer Artist Statement:

Inspired by the Adirondack Park and forest preserve, these “forever wild” scenes reflect the shifting encounters and observations found in the natural world. Layer by layer, mylar, assorted papers, and mixed media combine into forms that echo the landscape and its continual transformation through time and circumstance.

Flowing lines and irregular shapes invite abstraction, transforming the drawings into low relief sculptures that create an interlocking puzzle of recognizable and ambiguous shapes. The resulting layered and lifted structures reimagine the landscape into new dynamic scenes.

Together, these ever-evolving symphonies of vibrant color and abstract form reveal a living ecosystem of transformation. Witness to countless generations before our own, these landscapes have inspired many meditations and carry their own living narratives of adaptation and resilience. Like the Park’s enduring wildness, these scenes are shaped by nature’s hand and the passage of time, just as each artwork is formed through the patient hand of the artist. They remind us to consider how we, too, are part of this layered story—contributing, changing, and becoming within the greater context of life.