The figurative work here explores my interest in gesture as a means of expression. I set out to simply let everyday actions inform my work: people trying to create a personal space while waiting in line or edging forward to listen in on a conversation. The anonymity of these androgynous figures keeps the focus on the expressive form of the gesture.

Having traveled and lived in various countries, I am intrigued at how differently personal space is viewed across cultures and how people use their bodies to communicate. Placement of the clay figures becomes an important formal element in this work; elevating the figures onto a plinth creates a personal space that sets the figures apart from their surroundings, while placing the figures onto a plane (the wall) creates a dialogue with the surface and a group dynamic as the figures engage one another in an ambiguous narrative.

Themes from my earlier series - using drawers and hinges to address issues of fitting and potential for movement and change - take on a different meaning in this new work in which I combine elements of the human form with furnituresque parts in unlikely situational gestures.

I find intriguing how we draw from our own personal experiences and backgrounds to view and interpret this work so differently.