Made in the USA, When gnomes need to clean their homes: MFA Thesis - Sculpture

Abstract

My work, Made in the USA , focuses on the environment, communication, and identity. Using critical humor along with dark playfulness, I open doors to difficult conversations relating to issues of overconsumption and the culture of waste in America, through the lens of my own awareness of cultural differences. The works are based on my experience of being a foreign person in America. I choose familiar, everyday objects and commonly considered waste materials as the raw materials for my work and for their potential to initiate cross-cultural, nonverbal communication. Then I transform those materials into situational, humorous, and metaphorical artworks that double back and question our relationship to the commonplace things I started with.