I am interested in material and source, and meaning rooted in the connections between them. I investigate how materials collect their identity, beginning with geographic origins, through cultural connections and histories, ending with the objects they become. By traveling to physically gather material and information myself I create a personal connection to the source and attempt to render that bond. I account for the journey from source to viewer, acting as a liaison, intent on bringing the two worlds closer to one another. As a result of thorough research I become expert and the work becomes a vessel for discovery, communication and understanding. Through this act I hope to discover how my role as a connector of material and histories affects the form of the object and the formulation of the role of the viewer. The work’s ultimate goal is to inspire the viewer to consider a complex network of historical, economic, and geopolitical forces that bring an object into existence. Thus I intentionally collapse the notion that art or any designed object can emerge from an insular creative bubble, untouched by history, culture and economy. The specific use of material is dictated by my own inability to express what the material can express with authority. As a maker, I cannot create what the material holds within it, thus I borrow the power of material to communicate. In turn, as a maker I release a form of the materials own agency that it cannot release itself. This is a cooperative act.