Paper Gems
I start and end each day thinking about earrings. Earrings are my ritual. They connect me to my family and my heritage of beading, weaving, quilting, and quill work. I translate this history though symmetrical and balanced hand-cut paper works. Turning metal and plastic accessories into works of paper gives the earrings a fragility that mirrors how I approach my own identity as someone who is both white and Native American. By meticulously slicing rigid patterns into a medium that when handled poorly will tear apart, I search for how to balance my contradictory identities. I focus on my own adornment as I create work to adorn the walls around me.