Years ago, when I worked as a technical writer, I received a company dictionary and was told that my writing could only use the words it contained. It made me wonder about ways that abstract concepts could be conveyed without any using words at all. Now, I do this with my art by creating my own version of a visual dictionary, in which I define words and concepts with imagery rather than with other words. I particularly like to play with words that have multiple meanings and surprise with humor. My artworks may have political or social connotations, industrial connections or a purer reference to the physical world.

Quilted elements appear in each piece because people connect with quilting on a deep emotional level. Rather than surfaces to be decorated, I treat the quilts as raw materials, creating the lines, planes and forms of my designs. I like to work with bold, bright colors because they provide a high level of excitement and energy. Many times, I play with the scale of an object to increase its importance.

My ideas come from a wide range of influences, including scientific imagery and the works of Eva Hesse and Robert Rauschenberg. The result is a new way of looking at quilts, which takes them into the realm of conceptual art and sculpture.