My work is centered around the activity of taking things apart and putting them back together again. Disassembling things bit by bit and seeing how each piece functions in relation to the others is not unlike studying machines, human bodies, communities, systems of nature or any group of things that need to coexist. I find clues in the deconstruction of objects that help me understand things that are bigger and more complex. My process includes examining, categorizing and organizing, all the while looking for parallels and metaphors outside of the object itself. During the process of reconstruction, I sometimes put the pieces into a new context or play with scale to mix new associations with the ones that already exist. But like in their original form, the components need to work as a united force, literally merged together as one. The finished sculptures and photographs serve as a grip on the world as it moves speedily along; spinning, changing and unfolding upon itself. They are places of rest, where one can gaze and reflect, maybe even unconsciously - like a whiff of a scent that you cannot identify which takes you immediately to a place of familiarity. Shelley Spector 2008