Thinking of the term “craft” as a transformative and non-linear process, my work aims to rebirth politics behind the workshop. The processes of woodcarving are similar to the rules and structures of a game. Strategies are employed to navigate the inherent limitations of the material and there are consequences should one deviate from the path. My playful approach to carving is inspired by Sister Corita Kent’s method of ‘plork’ which advocates for an amalgamation of the methods in-between the poles of the work/play binary. Playing brings the body back into the forefront by concentrating on the haptic experience of woodcarving.
Carving only recycled wood from scrap, the idea of transformation is central to my practice. My research of Queer Theory and the metaphysical concept of becoming involves harnessing the instability of the body which is translated by negotiating with the unforgiving and knotty pine. By embracing the temporal or fragmented aspects of the body, my figurative works resist binarised categorisation with no clear gender or defined level of completion.