ARTIST STATEMENT
My grandmother inspired me to create my artwork. I would always remember my Grandmother would say, “rice is gold”. Taken on its surface this could mean that this simple food provides sustenance for millions of people and is a staple in dishes from many cultures. Looking at it metaphorically I realized it could mean to use my resources wisely, in life and in art. I first started interpreting my grandmother’s statement by working with mussel shells I had collected over the summer. I had originally thought about referencing the environment and our exploitation of its’ resources through these shells. After research and more consideration, I found that shells are used as shelter and tools for animals such as sea otters. Transforming shells into shelter made me think of a project I had done transforming the texture of an object with a contrasting material. In that project, I transformed a brick, an object used in construction for building shelters, by covering it with short pieces of yarn, a
