My Doohd.
My Doohd is my MFA thesis exhibition exploring illness, care, humor, and accessibility through textiles, installation, and character-based imagery. Created during and after cancer treatment, the project uses soft materials and absurd forms to challenge institutional sterility while creating spaces rooted in comfort, vulnerability, and human connection.
During my candidacy semester in fall of 2024 I was awarded the RKTL Fellowship Award and as part of that award I gave a nearly one hour artist talk upon completion of my thesis paper and exhibition show. The video above is the documentation of that talk.
RKTL Info:
Each year upon achieving their MFA Candidacy, typically after their third semester, one IMDA graduate student is awarded the RTKL Fellowship based solely on the merit of their presentation on Graduate Review Day. The goal of RTKL is to award an emerging artist of creative and scholarly excellence who has demonstrated a promise to make an impact on the field. Therefore, through a competitive process, the RTKL award seeks to propel that promising graduate student into their future career by financially contributing toward their thesis exhibition. Award recipients offer an artist lecture typical of an academic job interview or gallery talk around the time of their thesis exhibition.
Emphasis on Craft and Accessibility
My Doohd is deeply informed by questions of accessibility and audience engagement, drawing from familiar visual language, craft materials, and domestic textures to create experiences that feel approachable to viewers both inside and outside traditional contemporary art spaces. Influenced by my background in commercial graphic design and motion graphics, the project investigates the relationship between polished institutional aesthetics and hand-made forms. By translating simplified graphic imagery into tactile textile objects, the work pushes against the sterility and standardization often associated with medical environments, commercial design, and contemporary galleries.
The installation transforms gallery space into an environment centered around softness, humor, and bodily presence. Carpeted surfaces, tufted figures, wallpaper, and sculptural objects interrupt the neutrality of the white cube, creating spaces that feel more intimate, protective, and emotionally grounded.
