Dustpan Inventory
Dustpan Inventory records messes that I swept from my home over the course of a year. Each image represents a six-inch square collection, scanned, and presented as a four-foot square panel. The work developed during a period when my children were young. I explore the multifaceted experience of finding oneself so closely tied to home. Sustained observation of my children and environment called attention to the disarray and beauty that existed side by side. I sought to establish an independent channel for my personal expression; creating a body of work using materials that reference the domestic parameters that come with motherhood. At the time I made these images early in my practice, instinct guided me. I better understood my impulse as I studied Mierle Ukeles and Mary Kelly, both mothers and artists expressing the tedious and hidden parts of motherhood using domestic materials and actions.