My early work is influenced from frequent trips to the American Southwest, primarily to Tucson, Arizona, where I discovered the cholla cactus (Cylindropuntia fulgida, the jumping cholla). It was the ceremonial pieces that led me to coin the term “artifacts of a one-man tribe” for my artwork—I was not related in any way to the native cultures of the region, yet I felt the sense of a distant belonging. These objects represent this personal and spiritual connection.