The Body Electric is an ongoing self-portrait project. I use my body as a sculptural object, intervening and interacting with light and objects found in and around my home, to communicate intricate and complex emotions. Although these feelings may be personal, many are universal or shared outside my own experience. At times, the English language has no succinct way of sharing the complexity of our feelings; we tell each other we are happy, frustrated, or sad when what we really are is staring into the refrigerator for comfort despite a full belly, grappling with persistent ominous feelings that something will go wrong when everything is going “too right,” or contemplating the absurdity of inhabiting a strange and wonderful body that both delights and displeases us. Where words fall short, images may have the ability to communicate these experiences and feelings with more immediacy. Some of the images take a more literal approach, others are ambiguous and metaphorical. In an effort to keep my images honest and the emotional content genuine, I photograph whenever I feel something intensely, giving myself no more than 10 minutes to gather any objects and find the right light, so that the images are never an affect. I hope that others observe parallels in their own lived experience, taking comfort in our shared humanity.
