"Everything around us becomes part of us, infiltrates us in our carnal or vital sensation, and the web of the grand Spider subtly ties us to whatever is at hand, binding us in a light bed of slow death, where we rock in the wind. Everything is ourselves and we are everything, but of what use is it, if everything is nothing?"

—Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet

Rooted in puppetry and performance traditions, this work, titled Everything is Ourselves, playfully explores how objects function as extensions of identity. From prehistoric figures carved from clay and stone to everyday objects and digital avatars, we witness the continuous human impulse to animate material in order to construct meaning, grasp at identities, and dream towards cosmological understanding.

Currently on view at the Phoenix Art Museum as part of the 2025 AZ Artist Awards exhibition.

Photos by Callan Ottum and Katie Jones-Weinert