My artwork tends to use whatever is at hand—paper bags, plastic to-go boxes, old slippers, cardboard, things that hold but are not kept. Out of these I build sculptures and installations. I also make drawings and stencils. Sometimes I put objects in the world to see how they survive.

I get lost in the layers of my home of Hawai‘i, of neighborhoods and communities, of local subcultures and issues, and the consumer truth of tourism. My work can be playful and unsure. I don’t believe that statements like this one control the meaning of what I make, but I keep artworks that give me pause or pose a problem.

I’m fascinated by Arte Povera and Tropicália. Andy Warhol’s influence is behind my work, too, with his way of turning the everyday into something sharp, strange, or beautiful.