a•man•u•en•sis: One employed to take dictation or to copy manuscript. [Latin amanuensis, from (servus) a manu, (slave at hand(writing): ab-, by + manus hand.]

amanuensis, a series of artworks created specifically for three sites on Seattle University campus was inspired by the Jesuits' philosophy – a balance between intellect and intuition, self-reflection and compassion, and their dedication to education with an emphasis on service.

7,000 letters

St. Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits, wrote over 7,000 letters during his lifetime. The site-specific installation, 7,000 letters, in the Fine Arts Atrium was inspired by a definition of the sacred: an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace. The presentation of 7,000 envelopes, created a 30' column of light that spilled out of the skylight, down through the mezzanine, and accumulated in the basement of the Fine Arts Building creating a meditative place to enter. Each envelope was “addressed” in longhand with a tallying number, producing a visual manifestation of Ignatius' effort. I viewed this aspect of the work as a "behind the scenes performance" in which each envelope records the action of a process.

In addition to the Atrium installation, a series of devotional objects and reliquaries were shown in two separate galleries. These objects were fabricated of both permanent (bronze, stone) and impermanent materials (roots, leaves, wax, bread) to reflect ideas about the everlasting nature of spirituality and the transient nature of the body. Through a series of casts, using both the molds and the casts, objects examine absence and presence, the perceivable and imperceivable.