I am interested in storytelling, play and mystery; my art is based on imagination — mine and that of the viewer.

I use dolls as stand-ins for real people because of their power of allusion. From the earliest times humans have believed that souls or spirits existed in every object, even if it was inanimate. From this, it was a small jump of intuition to think that if you fashioned a human-like object it could possess the soul of ancestors or beings with supernatural powers who might act on your behalf. The mystical belief in the power of effigies continues to this day. Modern dolls, made of plastic, and manufactured by the millions can cast a similar spell. It is easy to think that they possess lives of their own and are the repositories of unknown consciousness.

A child playing with a doll attributes a personality to it. When children play with dolls they do not limit themselves to what is intended by the manufacturer or the society that produced the object; a child’s play is often subversive and perverse. I approach dolls in the same way. In our society these figures - toys and dolls - are loaded with meaning. My work recognizes those meanings, but the figures are also personalities who exist as bodies and souls around which I weave mysteries — and these mysteries sometimes seem to be parodies. An important element of my work is the use of discarded, thrown-away objects that I buy in thrift stores. Not only do these figures project personas, they also reference enigmatic past lives.

For the past six years I have been experimenting with studio and darkroom-based techniques which, for the most part, involve 'printhroughs' or paper negatives. By combining reverse prints, photocopies, drawing and painting on paper negatives as well as montage and collage, I look to add nuance and undertone to my images. These are 'primitive' (non-digital) techniques. I value them because their results are often erratic, and this reminds me to avoid what I am sure about and aim for what is new and unknown to me.