It was a totally new way of working for me, which allowed me to approach my own practice from a new perspective. I'm not used to making functional objects or sculpture and so I was forced to shift my approach from the beginning. That's always inspiring as well as challenging.

2. What approach did you take to creating a work of art inspired by a tzedakah box (ie: conceptual, functional)?

My approach was both functional and conceptual. For some reason I really wanted my tzedakah box to be usable—perhaps that became a structure for me to hold onto for an object I otherwise knew very little about. But I also needed it to connect to my practice and expand my own thinking about my work and that part was primarily conceptual.

3. In six words, describe your creative practice.

Explorative, personal, emotional, architectural, queer, nature.

4. In your own words, what is a tzedakah box.

I see the box as a point of action that begins before it and ends after it. It's really a moment that concretizes something much bigger about exchange and opening up to the world around us.

5. How did your involvement in The 2015 Dorothy Saxe Invitational come about?

That's a mystery to me—I received an invitation in the mail which I was happy to accept.

6. What are you working on now?

I have a few shows coming up—next week at Adjunct Positions in Los Angeles and later in the year in Kansas City and San Francisco. I'm working towards those shows and I'm also just working in a more general, everyday way on expanding my work.