Museum etiquette prohibits touching. The works are precious not to be tampered with; traditional craft froms are made to be touched, handled, used. I'm fascinated by how a show's curator interprets my work, sometimes a different twist I don't think of. Regardless of how or who displays the pieces, people pick them up and handle them. I love to observe the gallery visitors touching the pieces or attempting to peak behind. Who gave them permission; but touching and peaking are what I always want to do.
I've been making things for so long. I'm beginning to question the value of the pieces I make. Who cares if they last another hundred yearsM Aren't the fingerprints left on the work part of the story of the pieces? To me, that story will make it more valuable. These pieces are inspired by what surrounds me at the Tennessee Aquarium. Some are not attached so that the viewer can make their own arrangement feeling the textures of the pieces in the process. Nothing is static in an Aquarium and these pieces shouldn't be either. There is no right side up to the pieces. They are meant to be touched, felt, rearranged, ang fingerprinted.