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U: Can you tell us about the DreamWeaver puppet? 

A: He was something I made in October of 2022. I had just dived back into my creative practice and decided to be a lot more authentic in what I talked about and how I expressed myself than I had been in the past. I made him on a lark. I didn't have anything planned when I started molding the clay, and his face just appeared. After that, everything else came, and so I just made him as I went, and it was like a little being coming to life. It was so cool. There were parts of it that I didn't even plan. So there were things that were just about him, some of his characteristics of his face and stuff, and the rest of him came out of just complete happenstance [and] what was happening while I was using the materials. There was a little hole in his face. Somehow it got too thin there, so I just gave him a little thing on his forehead, and then that became the thing he beams the dream out of. It reminds me of the process of an author writing as they're creating their character, they get to know them and why they are the way they are.

U: Are you usually about letting the process tell the story?

A: I guess it's something I've always wanted to do, but not something I felt like I was actually doing with intention and dedication until I made DreamWeaver.

U: After you made DreamWeaver and you started working on Renewal Vision, did you feel you had a better grasp of how to do that, how to work with the process?

A: I still feel like I'm learning a lot. There are things I want to do differently next time, but it was equally a learning experience and also really the first time that I got to embody that valuing of the process and seeing that as so important to the art. I've always liked art like that, and so I always wanted to make art like that, but it took a while for me to figure out how to start doing it.

U: Can you take us through what we would experience if we were standing in front of the installation right now?

A: Yeah. It's in two, four x four squares on top of a table. The highest point is like, shoulder height. The lowest point would probably be like, your lower hip. So say it's about five and a half feet off the ground altogether. If you walk up to it, you're going to see DreamWeaver, and you're going to see a big mountain that's kind of scraggly. Below the mountain, well out of the mountain, you see a road coming out of a portal, and you see a bunch of really grayish buildings and some smokestacks polluting the air, and you see a figure asleep in a bed. You realize that DreamWeaver is giving this figure a dream. The dream is starting with an image of the current Lancaster county and possibly more future, which is very industrialized on this beautiful farmland. But you go through the portal, actually, you see coming out of the portal a hand made of what looks like trees holding a red ribbon, and the red ribbon connects to the figure and DreamWeaver, and it's something that's being offered. If you walk through there, you can actually walk in between the two mountain sides.

And if you look into the portals on either side, you'll see a mirror, so you'll see a reflection of yourself. You continue through that portal to the other side, you see a lush mountain. You see a beautiful Susquehanna river flowing down from the mountain, and you see a maypole and a green man, and you see that the green man is the one offering the red ribbon through the portal. He's offering a new, different future. And this future has parks and the city of Lancaster with a community center and affordable housing. You also see small organic farm. You see wind turbines, and you see solar panels on all the buildings and you see lots of trees.

The maypole connects to all of the parts to show how everything works together for everyone.

U: Speaking of local businesses and working with the community, you worked with local businesses to source materials for this installation. Can you talk about working with businesses on this creative level and why this was so important for you?

A: I think this is a great example of how community is here because it's like you work with people, and it can be very serious, but it's often just such a mutual benefit situation or to support each other. So I was talking to one of the owners at ESO Arts about this project, and a woman, another artist who was a vendor there, overheard me talking about it. And she got excited about it. And she says, I will help you. She gave me a bunch of the textile pieces that I used on the base.

Another one was where I work. I work at Sweetish Candy. They have a location on the same street as ESO, but I work in their warehouse. We have a lot of waste from shipping. I mean, it's just how it is. It's a Swedish candy import store. So we get tons of material, tons of cardboard, plastic, all kinds of stuff. And I just took some. My boss was like, sure-was happy to give me things that I could use on my work. And also that's less going towards wherever some of it's recycled. Then the other was at a really incredible place, Lancaster Creative Reuse. They are a nonprofit here in Lancaster. It's like a thrift store, but it's just all arts and craft supplies. And they have an area for kids to come in and make stuff, and they just pay a very little amount to do that. So it's like a place for kids to just be creative. And it's also a place where crafters and artists and even teachers (there's like a whole office and school supply section) can come and get stuff for a discount and you can just donate your stuff.

I found a giant roll of the stuff that I covered the mountains in. I got this giant roll of carpet, like rug fibers and yarn, but it was really rough. But it was this perfect forest green color and it had different colors in it, so it wasn't all the same color. And I took that and I got it for a dollar. I did all of that and it was a dollar because it was very rough. And they were like, no one's going to want this. But I wanted it, and it was perfect. 

I've been thinking about how I might, once it's over, I'm going to have to take it apart because I don't have anywhere to store it. I was thinking of how I could reuse some of the things I used on it in another way for either a different art piece or for maybe to make some items to sell ESO Arts. And that way people could have a piece of it. 

U: That'd be awesome. That's so funny because that was my next question. What are you going to do with the materials when you take the installation down? 

A: One of the ideas I had was that this county is full of cigar boxes. You can find them at every thrift store by the stacks, so they're pretty cheap, but they're really nice. I was thinking of getting some of those and maybe covering them in some of the trees because I think it would make it like a little moss box\. It would be really cute.

U: Considering that ESO Art space is new in your county and your art practice involves community and your love of where you live is because of the community, how has the space been beneficial in terms as an artist, as a community oriented person?

A: It's amazing. It's so awesome. I have never seen a place like this here, and I don't think I've ever been to a place exactly like it. So it is a gallery and boutique, and it has four owners, three of whom are artists who work there. The main floor is a giant room with super high ceilings, and it's just covered every inch in art. They don't have as much censorship as some other galleries might, so they are open to and really are there to promote artists who otherwise might be overlooked. So a lot of people of color, a lot of queer people, and people of all kinds of backgrounds can have their art there and say and have a voice. And it's amazing, and it's so cool to see everything together and all the different people, but it just shows how important it is that we are all different together. I was just supported from the very beginning, and it was kind of wild to me because they were so open and willing to give me a space to do something new, which was scary for me, but for them, they were just thrilled. My art is about community in so many ways, and this establishment is for the community.

U: It sounds amazing. And clearly there is a huge message there which is close to home. Why was it important for you to involve imagery of Lancaster?

A: I love where I live. It's very unique. It has so many issues, and it's also one of the bright spots, I think, in a lot of the surrounding area. When people come to visit, they immediately start thinking, how can I move here? I've seen that so many times. I've seen people move here after a couple of visits because it is a small city. It has town-like qualities. Like, everybody knows everybody, and everybody knows what's up, but it's still big enough that you can kind of move around into different circles and things socially. It's got an incredible small business economy. Also it's surrounded by farmland that's just absolutely gorgeous. Especially like right now, I'd say May is one of the most beautiful times of year in Lancaster because everything's so bright green. It's got so much stuff to do. It's just a really cool place. I always remind myself that I live where other people come for vacation.

I live in a special place, and it's so special, and I feel like I've lived here for eight years, and my love for where I live has just deepened, even when it really gets to me. The small town vibes or some of the cultural stuff, it's very religious, but there's so much when you get involved with the community here, it's like where you always dream to grow up because of how communal it is. And even though there's huge problems, too, it's still special to me.