After collecting keys for many years, I began to carefully observe the subtle differences in color, shape, and wear; some were more rounded at the edges from repeated use. I thought about how this small, nearly ever-present object could represent larger ideas: trust, independence, responsibility, and obligation. All of this led to the idea of the circular compositions, key mandalas, as representative of daily cycles: tracking our journeys from home, to work, to school, to studio, etc. I wanted them to be maps of days or experiences. This idea is in line with the traditional role of mandalas, which were considered abstract representations of places that Buddhist practitioners could enter.

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