'Good' Messes series
2020-2022
When researching the ‘theory of messes’ I found that order is not all good, and that messes are not all bad (lucky for me). During shelter in place over the last year, more freedom and time at home meant more chaos and messes in every room. As the outdoors came indoors and the kids’ indoor things went outdoors, chaos abounded. I began to embrace these messes and asked myself, “is there such a thing as a ‘productive’ mess?” As I documented, I found messes that were evidence of creativity, improvisation, and new strategies, the opposite of what my mother always taught me about a good mess. These images are visual statements that combat the mainstream pressures to be “picture perfect,” changing our perspective on where we see beauty and creativity in the everyday lives of our children.