Early Hybrid Assemblages and Speculative Bodies

My Pretties are twelve infant-sized figures assembled from human hair, animal remains, beeswax, textiles, and found materials. These vulnerable, hybrid forms draw on traditions of folk magic and ritual, informed by anthropological understandings of magic as a system through which cultures attempt to navigate and exert influence over life, death, and the body. They reflects the persistence of superstition and symbolic belief despite an increasingly scientific worldview, particularly where scientific and medical frameworks fail to address psycho-spiritual needs.

Contagion Poppets explored the spiritual taboos and affective charge of contagion magic through the construction of organic “poppets.” Assembled from human hair, animal remains, bone, textiles, wax, and found materials, these figures draw on traditions of folk charms, where objects become imbued with intention, influence, and symbolic power.

Approximately 75 poppets were created, the majority of which are now held in private collections.

Salmonidae hispidus is a sculptural work that draws on traditions of folklore and fabricated natural history. Constructed from human hair, Persian lamb, fiberglass, and steel, the work references historical curiosities such as the “hairy trout,” a fictitious creature once circulated through circus sideshows and dime museums, where fabricated specimens were presented as authentic natural anomalies.