Artist Statement

In large measure becoming an artist consists of learning to accept yourself, which makes your work personal, and in following your own voice, which makes your work distinctive. – David Bayles, Art & Fear,1993

Accepting oneself is easier to read in self-help books than to live. Having read Art & Fear, I ask the question, "what does it look like to accept myself: as an American, a daughter, and queer cis-woman in this modern age?" Ever surrounded by children, as a mother and a teacher, I find myself wondering, “What is the pattern that we must break to embrace the humanity within ourselves and others? How do we find connection?"

My art consists of mixed media drawings and paintings. I paint in acrylic, oil, and encaustic. With layers of color and imagery, my art reflects the accumulation of experience and knowledge to inform my seeking of the answers to my questions.

I appreciate working with the principle of pattern as a relationship between the parts with rhythm, movement, and space. This use of pattern is a direct influence of being an art educator. Recognizing patterns is a first fundamental that children learn across all content areas. It also plays a role in my artwork and life, as recognizing a pattern of behavior is necessary before one can change it.

My early life, as a nomadic military child raised within the military industrial complex and grappling with my identity, are the foundation for my exploration of the shadow and the subject of personal relationships (or lack of). Isolation is a contemporary phenomena, yet, in theory, we are more connected than ever. Why is that? Why do we remain alone, together? I use pattern, shadow, and the figure (both implied and depicted) to examine the psychological narrative of (dis)connection.