Artist's Statement

Through my work I explore the bodily senses of touch, movement, and proprioception. Some of my sculptures are made for people to touch, and others visually evoke somatic responses such as emotions, pleasure or tension.

The sculptures are constructions made with a variety of sensuous materials--rawhide, wood, copper, rope and stone--rich in expressive qualities and in tactile appeal. Some are small enough to cradle, others large enough to enter. Recent works integrate light and motion into their structure and meaning through lighting, neon and video.

These artworks embody the dynamic interactions between sight and touch, outside and inside, body and mind. They juxtapose protection and vulnerability, rectilinear and biomorphic, industrial and organic.

Through my research into perception I travel the world to engage with neuroscientists, cognitive scientists, engineers, psychologists, philosophers, anthropologists, educators, art historians, artists, designers and people with disabilities. I am writing a book, By the Light of the Body: The Somatic Senses in the Visual Arts, a phenomenology of touch and the bodily senses in art.