on containing multitudes
These hand-built vessels are indeed shelves, yet the seemingly empty compartments already carry something: A secret, handwritten on a piece of paper, buried beneath the layers of plaster and paper pulp.
Secret Shelves is an ongoing series currently comprised of 20 sculptures. Equal parts functional and conceptual, they are catacombs, confessionals, containers for laying to rest. Secrets Shelves III and XX contain the communal secrets of over 100 people who gathered for special ceremonies in March 2024 and August 2025.
The following photographs are a farewell between artist and secrets before their release into the world, an admission of the artist's desire to be known. Some of these pieces have now gone to private collections, some were destroyed by Hurricane Helene, others are still finding their path, but all are a piece of the artist.
Secret Shelf I was destroyed by Hurricane Helene in September 2024 and has been commemorated as part of the Asheville Flood Collection.
Secret Shelf III contains the secrets of 34 people and was awarded First Prize Juror's Selection at High Street Gallery in Chicago, January 2025.
Photographed in the historic "Pauper’s Graveyard" of Riverside Cemetery. Special gratitude to the souls who shared the ground with us.