The lived experience of formal education is the primary subject matter for my creative research. As a youth, I attended the Child Study Center for three years, a school in a teaching hospital, where I became intrigued with educational research. I am inspired to create artwork that comments on the history of education and questions the common assumptions that devalue fluencies and skills outside prevailing norms. The work I create is intended as a metaphor for the frustration I and others have felt living in a society that devalue neurological differences. With my creative practice I use my abilities as an architect, artist, and educator to encourage a free and open conversation about education.To this end, I create artworks using photography, installations, and sculptures.
My photographic project, Structures that Transformed Education – 1724 to 1974 is a documentary typological study that focuses on school properties that are directly related to critical court cases associated with the Supreme Court decision, Brown vs Board of Education. With my installation projects that include photographic portraits and oral history recordings, I seek to deepen the understanding of firsthand experiences through the gathering and presentation of recorded memories. With my sculptural work, I an using school objects and materials for their embodied history and meaning to explore common misunderstandings about learning differences. I strive to develop new work that combines elements to emphasize the empowering potential of a more open discussion of the history of education and the lived experience of learning.