Hope After Destruction, Sculpture, 2017
War brings destruction and blood, but most do not realize that it also brings hope. After war, there is the hope for peace and regrowth. The battlegrounds may one day bring about fruit. Just as the explosions from bombs resemble the blooming flowers that will later grace the land. Inside the box, there’s a firefly, wooden spears, and blood-stained grass. In Japan, fireflies represent the souls of dead soldiers, but they also symbolize hope. The hope of new life even after the destruction from war. The box is black to show the ash and dust from explosions. When the flower lid is placed on the box, the black gradually bursts into color. The bright oranges, reds, yellows and whites represent the fire from explosions. And at the very top, flowers are abloom. These flowers are part of the explosion, however, they also represent the hope after destruction.
Roadkill, Sculpture, 2017
This is piece is a handmade fur bag called Roadkill and inside the bag is a dead possum. The possum is set on top of a bed of paper flowers, which act as funerary flowers for the possum. This bag represents animal cruelty, although it is actually made out of faux fur (taken from a vest). In order to retrieve a perfect fur pelt, animals are often skinned alive or bled to death. This process is cruel and creating a statement purse that displays a dead animal is my way of showing how gruesome the fur industry can be.
