Much of the work I've been doing this year has been text based and examines identity through relationships, language and memory. Several pieces have sprung from my own to-do lists or lists I've collected from friends.

This work uses found objects and collected text to explore the construction of personal narrative, authenticity of story, and portraiture using conventional museum display techniques. Within a collection, an artifact is separated from its original cultural-historical context and takes on new meaning. I re-contextualize these things to address the wide range of human experience.

The Gypsy Carts were built around free found jewelry box drawers. One of the carts contains drawers that are each cut out with an image of something I've lost, while the other cart houses stories of other people's loss. Tsora and Donka accompany me while pulling the carts to collect the stories of willing participants.

What did one math book say to the other Don't bother me, I've got my own problems. The Equations use found objects from my past to explore personal narrative and authenticity of story using museum display techniques. I am presenting experience in terms of adding, subtracting, dividing and multiplying. Through a formula I've pinpointed emotive moments from my history, big and small, and equalized them. Each piece relies on the label for completion.

Lynn Fleming, Lauren Payne and I put together this show informed by the 1994 movie Reality Bites for Cranbrook's Forum Gallery. Our generation is one that connects through media and pop culture. It seems fitting that this movie about making a documentary of your friends to validate your existence would resonate. We looked to it as a vital piece in the development of the identity of our generation.

This series of books was made during a residency with Elsewhere Artist Collaborative, a living museum in Greensboro, NC. They are a snapshot of the people and the collection. The stories were gathered from staff, residents, neighbors and blog readers during the first half of the residency in June 2009 and edited to fit the book format. They can be found at http://stores.lulu.com/caseywhat - 1/2 of the profits go to support Elsewhere.