Thorn works

I see these works as a kind of three dimensional mark making.

The thorn works are made from the thorns of the honey locust tree.  The holes through which the thorns are self-pierced are made by the pencil-point tip of a burning tool.  This process of construction led to the use of the burning tool as a means of mark making, resulting in the pyrographs.

Sanctuary
These works respond to the constant negotiation between order and disorder, the sense of random chaos versus the need for organizing structure, resulting in the need for sanctuary. 

I regard this series of works as uncertain sanctuaries.  The idea of refuge coupled with the obvious discomfort of the medium suggests the possibility of seeking refuge in discomfort, much like the wearing of a hair shirt or the penance exacted from various religious groups.

Crosshatch
I regard this thorn installation as a drawing piece.
Like crosshatch drawings, each thorn responds to the one that came before, finding it's way across the wall, or down the side of a post. They partner with shadows to make a complex web of lines.  Much as they climb up and around the trunk of the honey locust tree, the thorns wander over the wall, searching for crevices, cracks, places to probe in the interior environment.

Thorn works.pdf