Artist Statement

My work is mainly comprised of funerary urns, reliquaries and memorials. These objects have great significance to me. Death, which concludes all life, is a complex, often difficult subject to address. Its poignancy and mystery touch us all. I strive to make contemplative vessels that are markers, which celebrate a life that has passed and evoke memories that remain. 

I live in rural Kansas and have developed a close connection to this land and its rhythms of inevitable change. While on daily walks through wooded floodplains and across rolling, open fields, I closely observe nature’s details and meditate on the vast horizon with its ever-shifting compositions. These rhythms have created profound changes in my understanding of life and death, and have greatly influenced the development of my work as a metalsmith.