Artist Statement
The back and forth dance between resistance and the embrace of change runs like a sturdy, yet somewhat frayed thread through the much of my figurative and abstract work. From the beginning, a curiosity about transition and the influence of memory was elicited by the juxtaposition of simultaneously raising my children and caring for my mother through her terminal illness. Witnessing generational transition firsthand prompted a deeper understanding of the role of gender and the cost to women on whose shoulders we stand. This initial work was rooted in discarded black and white photos found in antique and thrift shops. A focus on the moment before and after the pose revealed a clandestine emotional landscape written on their faces. My metaphorical figurative work endeavors to lovingly animate these women and honor their precarious navigation through a gender biased world while recognizing the legacy left to us.
My fascination with change has expanded to explore the past with an eye towards our collective future. I know for certain that life is always changing . . . but some things linger. Now, more than ever, the world , our very history as a people and planet are in transition to something else, something better. I cannot help but have my art reflect this incredible time. A leaning towards abstraction, an exploratory use of color, a introduction of the palette knife and trowel has provoked a desire to frame the old in light of the new and a focus upon the unknown which will replace it. These days, I find myself interested more in the idea of the thing, rather than the physicality of the thing itself. My images give the viewer a nudge, but it is for them to create the narrative, much like the fluidity of a memory and notion of an imagined future.