“The urge which drives the decorator to go on filling any resultant void is generally described as horror vacuii…Any hierarchical arrangement presupposes two distinct steps, that of framing and that of filling. The one delimits the field; the other arranges the resultant space.”

---Gombrich, from A Sense of Order

Decorum series	Etiquette/Twist digital prints	White series
Updates Spring 2009

"My work addresses the comfortable artifice of pattern: decorative, behavioral, social, and ceremonial. Pattern provides framework and defines cumulative response through imitation of what has come before. In a social context, pattern emerges both as preordained expectations in the form of etiquette, custom and tradition, and as personal activity, the habitual response offered to fill the uncomfortable quiet. Adherence to pattern creates the outward appearance of conformity and unity; alterations in pattern create discord and demand attention. Pattern can be observed in an individual’s repetitive traits (personal character), in the common recurring choices and behaviors within a familial construct (generational character), and in the larger context of social expectations in the form of benchmarks, tradition, and ceremony.

"My current interest is in exploring habit and human behavior in response to the underlying standardization and expectations of social culture and interpersonal relationships. Paradigms are in constant flux from generation to generation. What lies between is a tension, a swell, a splitting hem; below the comfort of uniformity lingers a growing discontent. Much of my recent work incorporates images of traditional dance instruction. Formal dance etiquette imitates social construct. The structure of the dance frame demands strict adherence to rules of posture and position. Roles and expectations of lead and follow are clearly defined; to breach the confines of frame would be detrimental to the fluidity of movement on the dance floor.

"The use of an overhead projector to transfer imagery to the panel’s surface allows me to remove myself partially from the process, to surrender control to objective consistency and sameness. While I still interact with each piece through decisions such as initial color, size, and placement, this method requires me to work within the image vocabulary I place upon the projector’s screen. In this manner I both challenge and confine myself to a preordained set of rules and boundaries set in motion by the projected image."