Artist Statement

I love toys. This has been true since I was a child. However, as I’ve grown, I’ve realized that in recent years my interaction with toys has centered more on the acquisition and appreciation of toys rather than physical interaction or play. As a child, my love of toys motivated me to create. I would sew clothes for my dolls, create cardboard playsets, and sculpt polymer clay miniatures to create my own toys. Through this project, I wanted to challenge myself to reconnect my love of toys with my creative process. I realized early on that I was not only creating items that could be played with, but also that the creative process was play itself.

Personally, I define the act of play as an activity that serves the primary purpose of self-enjoyment, is intrinsically motivated, and imaginative by nature. To me, play is often more focused on the experience rather than the end result of the behavior, but is not necessarily disconnected from the end result. In other words, play can result in creation but is not merely a means to an end. Through my creative process, I found myself connecting with a deep and meaningful sense of joy, curiosity, and whimsy that I once thought I’d left behind in childhood.

This combination of creation and play was an essential part of my childhood. The act of play through creative process was a lifeline for me at a time when many things in my life were overwhelming and difficult. Creating my own little worlds to escape into empowered me with a sense of control during tumultuous times. This installation reflects on this experience by expanding on themes and mediums relevant to my childhood.

Play Toys With Me is a celebration and culmination of a tremendous amount of play. It is an interactive installation born from the action of play that asks you, the viewer, to step into the worlds I’ve created and engage in play yourself. I am very interested in what experiences and memories my work evokes in people, so please stop by the pedestal with the glass vase before you leave to let me know a bit about your thoughts.

This is an interactive installation, so please feel free to touch and move dolls around. Explore how the piece changes as you change the way the characters interact with each other and their surroundings. Please be mindful as you interact, do not forcibly move items that are glued down or take out primary set pieces like countertops, beds, or bookshelves. That said, please don’t fret if anything breaks. I know that physical damage is a likely consequence of play. I am aware of the risk I’m taking by inviting this type of interaction and have made peace with the fact that these items may not return to me in the same condition I left them in.

This installation would not have been possible without the help and support of my community. Many items, especially in the bookshelf, have been made by my volunteers Ana Chin, Marinah Chavez, Katy Sullivan, and Lilith Davies-Smith. I cannot thank them enough for their help. Additional thanks to other contributors Sylvia Lagor, Alex Franzoni, Alice Copeland, Kaia Crawley, Sol Zhou, Ben Becker, and my incredible partner Flora-King Smith. The help of these fellow artists has made me feel so held and supported throughout my div, being in community with them has made me a better artist and person. Thank you to my committee, Greg Kline and Thom Long, for always believing in me and supporting my work. Thank you to my mother, Janice Thompson, my anchor, for her consistent and unending support.