My mosaics of beans and seeds originated as a protest against the
forces of mass production and duplication. The meticulous nature of
the mosaic process leads me to ever-broader considerations of labor,
time, utility, and value, while the medium itself is a meditation on
visual non-conformity: within a palette of hundreds of differently
colored species of beans and seeds, each individual organism has its
own idiosyncrasies. My work is significantly informed by extensive
travels in North America, Europe, North Africa and Turkey. Traveling
has given me the opportunity to study Byzantine, Roman, and Islamic
mosaics, and other forms of art and architecture. It has also given me
a broad and visceral understanding of how global social systems are
constructed and maintained, and the ramifications of policy and power
from the international to the individual level. As much as the artwork
organic to other cultures has nurtured my own aesthetic vision, the
constant realization, as a citizen of the United States, of my own
culture's impact upon the landscapes of the world, from the
genetically engineered crops sold at the bazaar to the massive
urbanization affecting the entire globe, profoundly informs the
narratives evolving in my work.