When I first imagined the phoenix project there were a few things that were important to me. First, the imagery of the phoenix, with its mythology of rebirth through fire. While this rebirth is typically something that renders phoenix whole and perfect again, my phoenix will rise with only one foot—a return symbol of my return to wholeness as a person through limb loss. Second, I wanted to create a new method of application for color. Because of my experience with fibre I knew that it was possible to create a complex twill that makes a feather pattern. So I engineered a method for weaving fine threads of opaque glass, that would allow for a complicated woven structure at an appropriate scale to make feathers for my phoenix.
When I first realized that I was facing amputation, I had my copy of Frida Kahlo’s journal open on my desk to the page where she had written “Pies para qué los quiero si tenge alas pa’ volar? / Feet, what do I need them for if I have wings to fly” after her own amputation. It was this day that I had my first vision of my glass phoenix soaring out of the hotshop, heralding my return to life and glass. Frida’s art taught me that art is a way of life, a way of being, a way of grounding even the hard parts in something beautiful. This quote became the title of my MFA thesis as homage to Frida. I first found her art as a twelve year old, relearning to walk after first developing CRPS in my left foot.
From my first days back in the hotshop, everything I did was in service of building the skills necessary to pull this magnificent creature out of my head and into this world. I knew it would take more than just my hands, as most large scale glass work is collaborative. I learned to work with an assistant, cultivated friendships with other aspiring glass students, and began talking about the goal so that everyone around me could become invested in the process. I learned how to create components that could be hot assembled in subsequent work sessions. I practiced incalmo assembly. I reached out to Scott Chaseling for advice on large scale roll ups to create the phoenix body from my kiln formed woven glass feathers. I learned how to create large plaster-silica molds to fuse a hundred hot-sculpted feathers into wing parts. I learned to pull murrine. I practiced hot sculpting glass.
Installed in the Illingworth Kerr Gallery at AUArts from April 9-18, 2026, Athena Rising was the culmination of my MFA work, and the realization of the vision that helped me believe a new life was possible after CRPS and amputation. She soared over a glass scrying bowl, set in a pool of glowing lava.
