Telling stories is an impulse unique to humans. Animals exist and survive on instinct while humans use storytelling as a way to teach lessons, share experiences, organize thoughts, relive memories and make sense of desires.  Maybe this impulse goes back to our earliest childhood, when the adults in our lives first shared their stories with us.  Once upon a time… Suddenly… The end.

Storytelling is directly affected by the technology used. For example, it is a very different experience to read To Kill a Mockingbird than it is watching the movie- how was the story impacted by this shift of technology?  How different is it to read a tactile book, turning pages vs. reading on an iPad? The computer screen offers a different storytelling experience from the television or the movie screen; yet all ultimately bow, in service, to the story. These various forms of technology are simply tools we use to continue that age-old desire – to sit around the glow of a campfire (a screen?) and tell stories.

MY WORK AS A MEDIAMAKER

When I was five years old, I told my mother that when I grew up, I wanted to be an artist.  It was the 1960’s and this pronouncement could have been met with any number of responses more reflective of the traditional female roles of the time.  But instead, my mom told me about her sister, my Aunt Minnie, who was an artist.  She showed me a painting Aunt Minnie had done of my grandparents’ house. From that point on I understood that being an artist was entirely possible.

I have often referred to myself as a storyteller in that I have always sought to find the stories, whether my own or others. In my film, video and media work I am attracted to subjects where people are at the center of an investigation. Whatever the subject, I feel all of my work is ultimately an exploration of myself

I am attracted to the time-based arts, such as film, because it requires a commitment from the viewer. I am also interested in experimental approaches to filmmaking as these can open multiple points of enunciation in a film. I feel it is essential to collaborate with one’s materials to achieve the expression one seeks, thus my work has often mixed elements of narrative structure, documentary conventions, or even literary references such as memoirs, poems, diaries or letters.  I don’t mind if a viewer works a little harder when interacting with one of my films. I feel active viewers bring more of themselves to the piece, and in doing so, expand a project’s meaning and impact.

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