I started painting and drawing in art classes and camps in a quiet rural section of Baltimore County. The skills I learned were centered on a long tradition of portraiture and depictions of the pastoral landscape in the region. I felt restless and bored as a young artist despite my privileged access to art resources and beautiful surroundings. Everything and everyone in my immediate environment seemed static, including the artists and their art.

In both art and life, I am never content to stand still. I currently consider myself a mixed media artist exploring public art. Recently, interactivity in art has become more important to me. I want my art reach out to the audience and take on an active role in the world. Social Media is a body of work that engages the audience as collaborator and reflects my experiences with art as a platform for interaction and exchange. It represents my relationship with my community and my audience, presence in the community as a maker of art.

Social Media: Wall Posts (Dementia in Dialogue)
This collaborative collage work displays the anonymous submissions from Civic Toll, a public interactive artwork currently exhibited in the green space between the Annex and Boyden Gallery. Each submission is a contribution from a community member who interacted with my booth in the public space. I collected a range of statements that were vague, sentimental, poignant, comical, offensive and even aggressive in nature. I have posted the submissions on this wall and arranged them in a form of a disorienting spiral. Essential, I am drawing a connection between the content of these submissions and the chaotic dialogue that emerges from social media platforms. Both here and in the virtual world, anonymity has taken the accountability out of personal opinion and separated thought from real action. 

Social Media: Civic Toll
Civic Toll makes the analogy of paying a toll to having an active voice in a community. I experimented with this booth in the public space on and off campus and collected the submissions, which are displayed them on a wall titled Social Media (Dementia in Dialogue). I conceived of this project as a platform of exchange that allowed individuals to share their personal thoughts and experiences. This booth got me out of the studio, out of the gallery and into a public space to create art and interact with people passing by. 

I gave people in my community the freedom to contribute their thoughts anonymously in an effort to foster sincere exchange through creative collaboration. However, this anonymity often led to responses that left no community member accountable, much like the social media platforms of the Internet age.

Social Media:  Face Time
This round table for community dialogue is an extension of my Civic Toll booth. With Face Time, I provide a platform for community dialogue through a timeless ritual of communal consumption.  Unlike my tollbooth, which asks community members to anonymously submit their “two cents” on community needs, this round table puts community members face to face for a discussion about community needs.

Here I ask people to sit down and drink the Kool-Aid. In exchange for this comfortable seat and cold beverage, I ask for their presence and engagement. I also use this table to come forth as an artist and community member, giving my presence back to them.  In a sense this exchange is much like a toll, where people who value a space are held accountable for their personal contributions.