Creating moments that bring people and ideas together.

Read my featured story on WHRO: Hampton artist carries authenticity from music to her new gig on Williamsburg’s airwaves. [Read Article Here]

Current Projects Include

Dolliberation

Dolliberation is an ongoing exploration of ritual, assemblage, identity, and transformation through art. At its heart, it is about taking objects that have been discarded, overlooked, or misunderstood and giving them room to become something alive, personal, and free.

My background in fine art, music, and community-based work has shaped this project. You might know me through Tornado Bait, through the Unity Tapestry, or from the places where these projects have shown up in public. I am currently based in Hampton, Virginia, but Dolliberation carries pieces of every place that has shaped me.

The project first grew out of Tornado Bait and the Bag Heads. The bag heads became a way to play with identity, performance, anonymity, and expression without having your face explain everything for you. That thread still runs through Dolliberation today. Some of the dolls still have bag heads as a deliberate nod to where the project began.

Years later, the project came back into focus during a period of major life changes, recovery, and rebuilding. That experience changed the way I thought about bodies, objects, repair, and transformation. Dolliberation became a way to work through those ideas with my hands, using discarded dolls as vessels for memory, identity, humor, grief, and renewal.

A major part of the project has been making it mobile. Dolliberation is built to meet people where they are, whether that is in the woods, at a community event, on the street, or somewhere unexpected. At a time when people are more connected than ever but often feel separated from one another, making something together creates a different kind of space. Giving people something to do with their hands opens up room for conversation, play, memory, and real community.

Every doll in this installation has a past. Many have been gifted, restored, passed along, or rescued from being forgotten. Bringing them into Dolliberation gives them another life and another chance to become meaningful.

A major part of Dolliberation’s foundation has come through Ardently Yours, my friend’s doll business. Over the years, she has donated dolls, materials, encouragement, and support that helped this project get started and continue growing. Many of the dolls used in the installation have come through that generosity, carrying histories of care, repair, and second chances.

Dolliberation is a grassroots project sustained by care, donated materials, shared labor, and community support. Contributions help keep the work mobile, accessible, and open to people who want to participate, whether they find it at an event, in a public space, or by chance.

Dolliberation has existed in different forms for years, evolving through public art, participatory installations, performances, workshops, doll drops, community gatherings, and unexpected encounters. It has never been a fixed project. It changes as new people, places, materials, and ideas become part of it.

What follows is not a complete history, but a snapshot of one chapter in the project’s ongoing life. Some of the documented appearances from 2026 include:

·       March 20, 2026: Spring Equinox Dolliberation gathering at Buckroe Beach Park in Hampton, Virginia, presented by Tornado Bait and Hampton for the Holidays.

·       April 18, 2026: Dolliberation, Unity Tapestry, and Tornado Bait Bag Heads at Live Green Norfolk / Keep Norfolk Beautiful, Lafayette Park, Norfolk, Virginia.

·       May 23, 2026: Dolliberation / Held Together, Unity Tapestry, and Bag Heads at Forever 19, Booker T. Washington High School, Norfolk, Virginia.

·       June 10, 2026: Dolliberation Open Jam Night. At the landing in Portsmouth, Ohio..

·       July 25, 2026: Thread the Needle Dolliberation event at Shawnee State Forest Nature Center A-Frame, Portsmouth / West Portsmouth, Ohio. That day, the Doll Hospital began almost by accident, after one of the children asked us to darn one of their toys. From there, people began bringing dolls in, and if we were able to fix them, we would.

Dolliberation keeps changing because the people who meet it keep changing it. Every repaired doll, altered face, stitched body, shared material, and unexpected conversation becomes part of the project’s larger life.