Tell us about your practice and how you came to making?

I started making from a very young age! Both of my parents are architects. Any opportunity to build or draw we did it. Lots of costumes, a tree house in our backyard, box cars, and many cardboard sets. 

Do you have a ritual when it comes to making work?

I don’t have a daily ritual, but I do carry my notebook around everywhere. During the summer I do have a ritual of  getting ice cream on the way to my studio.

You talk about how the waves and the water influence your work, can you elaborate on the way buoyancy and swells come into your practice?

A lot of the work I made seeks the feeling of floating in water. Being both enveloped and weightless is so magical and freeing. Sometimes those ideas are literal in their motifs, and most of the time it’s trying to capture the feeling in lightness and proportions. Lighting is the perfect medium for to chase those ideas. 

You’ve recently started to make more objects in fiberglass. Has this shift been inspired by your connection to surfing?

I was interested in learning about how surf boards are made, which was my entry into fiberglass. Boards are typically made by covering shaped foam with fiberglass, and artisans are  typically called shapers. I am not covering foam in my process, but still enjoy the shaping process when making a mold. It’s a process I have become very familiar with having developed my own process. I know work with a fiberglass artisan who was been able to improve on what I have developed. 

Your work explores a myriad of materials. Which one has been the most inviting for you?

I am really intrigued by spun metal, and it is a process I have been wanting to work in. Similar to the fiberglass shades, spun metal requires a mold. It’s an amazing way to think about to shape metal. I am excited to explore that medium more. 

Which has been the most challenging?

I think the most challenging thing is figuring out all the finishes of everything. What is the final sheen? What is the final texture? It takes a lot of trial and error and looking at things in various types of lighting. I almost always forget to make time for that. 

What’s something you’ve always imagined but maybe haven’t had the time or opportunity to work on?

I would really like to work on a series of mirrors inspired by my hair and hair journey. I think subconsciously a lot of my work is influenced by my mixed race identity. I don’t really put that forward most of the time, but I would love to make some work that is more explicitly explores and expresses that journey. 

What’s next for you?

I am now learning the process of slumping glass. I love learning a new material and am excited to experiment and see how I can push the possibilities. I am trying to enter this with few ideas and an open mind. I am hoping to make some work in reaction to the slumping process as I learn more about it.