A biography is such a strange thing. Would you like to hear about my professional history? My degrees? My childhood? Or maybe just my passions? Who on earth am I, anyway? Well, perhaps this bio will at least give you a sense of what I like to do. I will write in first person, because — of course — I am the one writing my own bio.
As a child I made things constantly. My favorite relic I made during that time is a miniature Coca-Cola machine made out of paper. It had a slot for a penny, a paper chute on the backside to deliver the soda, and little pockets on the backside as well, full of tiny little paper soda varieties. Even when I was seven, apparently I already had a strong interest in the relationship between unique, handmade things, and mass-produced items. My fascination with material culture was born. And at a penny a piece, I was quite the entrepreneur!
Let’s skip to college. At the beginning I was trying to choose whether to pursue my love of art and handmade things, or to become a political activist and “save the world.” Finally I realized that I could do both at once and have been doing this as best I can ever since. Cultural change comes in many forms and even the smallest, subtlest experience can change the world. How else does the world change, but one person at a time? While in college I curated an exhibit called “A Northwest Yarn” about the history of wool crafts and industries in the Pacific Northwest. I also interned at TransFair USA, spreading the word about Fair Trade certified coffee, (a political art project in my mind.) I developed an independently-designed major combining Philosophy and Politics and minored in Environmental Studies at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. My honors senior thesis project was about the curious ways that artifacts and words can catch our attention and invite us to have life-changing insights.
My interest in material culture has also led me to work at The Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, California, where children learn to connect with the earth and each other through a garden and kitchen classroom. I also served an AmeriCorps stint on the Oregon coast at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, coordinating an interdisciplinary watershed restoration project. In a little tiny town called Boonville, I did graphic design for Stella Cadente Olive Oil.
I am currently running my little business and studying at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, CA. in the MFA Social Practice program.
And now I am wondering about you. Who are you?