“The beliefs tell the agent about how things are and about how they can be altered; the desires attract the agent to how things are not but can be made to be.
“…desire is always, at bottom, an attitude towards a possible way things may be, towards a possible state of affairs.” (Pettit)

Desire, in a word, is the drive behind my studio practice and the pivotal concept of my work, from which other topics branch. I am interested in desire as a consuming emotion central to the human condition—a force that constantly drives us to reach beyond the present and seek unknown possibilities. My recent work has investigated strategies for pursuing our desires, and it is through this investigation that I have come to focus on lures.

A lure is an object or some other kind of entity where one can situate desire—a focal point of our conflicting wishes to resist or indulge. Recent work addresses desire through an exploration of both physical and conceptual aspects of lures. These pieces incorporate paper collage, faux flower and aquarium plant parts, and many materials used in the construction of fishing lures. Each material is selected for specific connotations; as enticing and logical vehicles for creating lures for people filtered through my own versions of opulence and ornamentation. There is also a deliberate addition of nostalgia and wistfulness through the use of second-hand materials as well as materials that attempt, but do not quite succeed, in replicating nature. This work addresses both the process of being lured as well as the satisfaction of visual desires, and through this effort we explore the universal push/pull of pursuit and restraint.

Pettit, Philip. "Desire." Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 1998