2.Untitled/Lamoille County Bank 1857

And it is this relationship to power that accounts for the monumental look of my work. (monument and the Latin (and Bulgarian) for coin, ‘moneta,’ both derive from the same root).

However, coins, before they became a form of exchange, were used as tokens of participation in a particular community, be it tribal or religious. Lacking intrinsic value, coins are similar to artwork: both depend on a socially contracted sense of worth. In themselves, the materials of which contemporary money and art objects are made are generally worth little – yet, as a society, we agree to give them value. Through the imprint of symbolic images, coins also serve as a communal memory. Thus they promote a sense of security and national participation within each individual. My works are more about this aspect of money, the shared faith in symbolic images, and the participation in a community, rather than about the display of wealth and power. Therefore, although monumental, my work conveys a sense of intimacy in a way similar to the miniature Byzantine mosaics: both open the personal and private to the communal and the political.

3.Lamoille County Bank

IMAGE DESCRIPTION : 1. ‘Maine’ glitter and acrylic on mother of pearl 5,5/9 in, 2003. – 2. ‘Delaware’ glitter on wallpaper 18/14 in 2003. – 3. ‘Bare Breast Liberty’, acrylic and oil on wallpaper 8 in/7,5 in 2004. – 4. ‘Connecticut, glitter on wallpaper, 14/18 in, 2003. – 5. ‘Kentucky’, ( US Quarter) glitter on wallpaper 18/14 in 2003. – 6. ‘Chrisie,Hejaz’, glitter on paper 3,5/5 in, 2004.