As I address personal issues of pain trauma and violence, I question whether these emotional issues assist in controlling our creation, or our creation controls us.
Exploring the impact of these topics within myself, as well as on others whether through abuse, migration or war, forces me to explore the question of who we are and what controls us.
The creative act, and my art in and of itself, of tearing paper and cardboard to make my work, becomes both deconstructive and violent, while reassembling the torn elements is reconstructive and peaceful, thus addressing these issues not only in completed work but in the creation of the work as well.
Additionally, as I produce the work, I become an observer, present, but also looking in from the outside as a stream-of-consciousness guided by emotional memory, helps drive my work at an unconscious level.