Sea Life
Sea Life celebrates the quiet beauty and enduring rhythms of the coastal landscape through a sequence of intricately layered
paper-cut scenes. Handcrafted as a carousel artist's book, each panel reveals marine life commonly found along the Carolina
coast, including seahorses, sand dollars, sea turtles, crabs, shells, and starfish. Together, these familiar forms create a visual
journey that reflects both the richness of the ocean's ecosystems and the memories they inspire.
As the book unfolds, successive layers establish depth and movement, encouraging viewers to explore the work from multiple
perspectives. Delicate silhouettes, carefully balanced negative space, and a palette of blues evoke the shifting qualities of water,
light, and tide. Each opening functions as an individual composition while contributing to a continuous panoramic experience
that recalls walking the shoreline and discovering unexpected treasures with every step.
The carousel structure reinforces the cyclical nature of the sea itself. Like the tides, the work has no fixed beginning or end;
instead, it invites continuous viewing as images emerge, overlap, and recede through changing angles and light. This interplay
between structure and subject transforms the book into both a sculptural object and an immersive environment.
Blending paper engineering, sculpture, and narrative, Sea Life reflects the enduring connection between people and the coast.
It invites viewers to slow their pace, observe the intricate beauty of marine life, and experience the sense of calm, wonder, and
renewal that has drawn generations to the shoreline.
Artist Statement
Sea Life grew from a lifelong relationship with the North Carolina coast. Long before I understood the restorative power of the
ocean, the beach was simply where my family gathered. Summers were spent exploring the shoreline, searching for shells, and
watching the tides reshape the sand. As an adult, those experiences have become something deeper—a place where memory,
family, and landscape remain inseparable.
Although my family visited many beaches along the Carolina coast, Ocean Isle Beach has become the place that feels most like
home. Its quieter rhythm invites reflection. Sitting near the water, listening to the steady cadence of the waves, I often imagine a
silent conversation. I begin with uncertainty—"But what if..."—and the ocean answers in its endless repetition, "Everything is OK."
That simple exchange has become one of the most enduring forms of reassurance I know.
The imagery throughout this book reflects the small discoveries that have always drawn me to the shoreline. Seahorses, sand
dollars, sea turtles, shells, crabs, and starfish are not presented as scientific specimens, but as fragments of memory gathered
over many years of walking the beach. Like the treasured shells described in Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea, these
familiar forms become quiet reminders that ordinary objects often carry our deepest reflections.
The layered carousel structure mirrors the experience of exploring the coastline itself. Each panel reveals another glimpse
beneath the surface, inviting viewers to look beyond the obvious and discover relationships between shape, color, light, and
negative space. As the pages unfold, the work becomes less about individual sea creatures than about the rhythm that connects
them—a rhythm echoed in the tides, the seasons, and the recurring memories that return each time I visit the shore.
For me, the ocean has never been simply a destination. It is a place of continuity, where family history, personal reflection, and
the natural world exist together. Sea Life is an expression of that enduring connection and of the quiet assurance that, no matter
how life changes, some voices never stop speaking.
Year: 2023
Medium: Mixed media artist's book
Structure: carousel
Materials: Archival papers, PVA adhesive
Dimensions: closed, 7” x 5” x .5” open, 7” x 10” x 10”
Edition: Unique
Status: Available
