Clean Girl (Rosary for the Virgin Mary), 2003 plastic, silver aluminum detergent 60 x 3 x 1/2" Photo: Ron Jones

I choose formats and materials to enhance my primary concern the idea. Recently my work is tied to my experience as a lesbian growing up in a large Irish Catholic family.

The formats here are rosaries and halos. I approach prayer and sainthood with an outsider's perspective. Re presenting prayer as an action. Making nominations and halos for MY saints.

The materials range from the sacred to the mundane. Cold, blood, dirt, soap, stained corks, and hosts.

My work places non conformity in conspicuous opposition to the limited roles and choices presented to me in the culture I grew up in. I use humor as a starting point for a dialogue about social institutions and evolving perceptions of what is considered normal.

Dirty Girl (Rosary for Mary Magdalene), 2003 plastic, aluminum, copper, dirt from Devil's Garden, Ghost Ranch, Chimayo OK 60 x 3 x 1/2" Photo: Ron Jones