biography
I was born in Washington, DC to a psychiatrist from Trinidad and a nurse from Jamaica. I gained an appreciation for craft and the value of the handmade primarily from my maternal grandmother who was a professional tailor. Many of my family members taught me the value of a well-told story and so it is that I value the stories held in objects.
I hold an MFA (Cranbrook Academy of Art), a BFA (Art Institute of Chicago), and a BA in psychology (Amherst College) and a high school diploma from the Sidwell Friends School in DC. I have had the privilege of learning the craft of thinking through making from many makers throughout my travels. My work has been exhibited in over 250 museums and galleries in Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, Australia, and throughout the USA. I have been able to pursue my studio practice because of generous honors and opportunities such as a Pollock-Krasner Award, a Rockefeller Foundation Residency in Italy, a Red Gate Residency in China, a Wisconsin Arts Board Fellowship, a Virginia Commission for the Arts Fellowship, a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, an Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Award, a Civitella Ranieri Fellowship in Italy, and most recently as a United States Artist Fellow.
Currently, I chair the Department of Craft/Material Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. The department has been ranked by US News and World Reports as #4 in Fiber, #5 in Glass, #10 in Metals and #12 in Clay. Overall, VCUarts is ranked nationally as the #1 public university in the arts. Formerly, I was a Baldwin-Bascom Professor of Creative Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.