There are three facets I strive to achieve in my work: aesthetics, concept and activism.
Aesthetics- Using Gestalt Theory, assuming the viewer first analyzes the whole and then dissects the pieces, I trap the viewer with harmonious compositions and seductive plays of candy-coated color. The overlapping of these patterns during the printing process creates texture, variety, unity and balance. These abstract color-fields promote meditative contemplation and raise sensory awareness while the imagery unfolds into narrative.
Concept- I use symbolism in my work to create narrative. I use drawing as a way to visually communicate. These drawings are used repeatedly throughout my work and become iconic symbols. Each icon is intended to trigger self reflection and ideological understanding.
In my recent series Glitch History and the American Icon, I use the icons of The Women, The Native American, The Children, The Cowboy, The Static Bar and The Computer Glitches as a way to create a conversation around Immigration in America, Women’s Rights and Misinformation in Media. The combination of the images along with cultural sub-context build concept. In combination with the aesthetic quality of the work, they encourage contemplation and self awareness.
The Night Lights series is intended to raise dialog around police brutality, racial injustice and the presence of Confederate monuments in the South. This work uses imagery pulled from personal photos and documentation of Black Lives Matters marches and protest. This work intends to create dialog around racial injustice and police brutality. As a mother, I understand my white privilege and my heart goes out to parents everywhere who have lost children to racial violence. The title of the series, Night Lights,refers to being afraid of the dark when I was a child - the night light being a beckon of hope. While here the "night lights" represent the police lights and the fear they invoke in persons of color. Activism- This work is my reaction to everyday news events. It is my way of digesting injustice, making sense of politics and foremost creating social commentary, critical dialog and action. It is intended to make you feel empathy, raise understanding, make you want to march the streets in protest, stand up, kneel and act out against hate. I believe art can be a catalyst for social change.
In my studies on ideological thinking and symbolism- I also understand symbols are read differently depending on your cultural background. The images are loaded with political undertones and symbolic meaning. By meditating on these images we can more deeply understand our fears and the fears of others. Only by understanding these visceral reactions can we promote personal/ spiritual growth and social change.
KEEP FAMILIES TOGETHER: Coloring Project
This work represents the 2551children separated from their families after illegally crossing the border into the United States. The imagery is drawn and screen printed in thick contour lines reminiscent of a coloring book. The repeated image of the children linked in arms creates a secondary pattern of tiny houses across the 30 foot banners. Each banner is handprinted and colored by communities on both side of the border. I invite viewers to participate in the coloring of the banner to raise awareness and compassion for those cruelly separated from their families. If you are interested in hosting a Keep Families Together: Coloring Project email: [email protected].
Artist Statement 2014-2018
Time ,Space, Transcendence series explores meditation and sensory awareness. My works are intended to seduce the viewer visually with formal elements of color and deign, inducing inward reflection, meditation and social dialog. I weave narrative and iconography into the work through repetitious figure, landscape and geometric imagery. The figures have symbolic, political and spiritual relationships. The light and color have symbolic mood altering effects. The patterns invoke peace and harmony and embody the principles/patterns of the universe. I am interested in how light and video projection function to enhance color, alter mood and enable deeper sensory awareness.
The Messages From the Other Side utilizes representational triggers to generate conversations about important issues such as Native American history, immigration rights and the #MeToo movement. These images were salvaged from vintage National Media and repetitiously drawn, distorted digitally and screen printed into monotype prints. The distortions and glitches create bars and static which represent the loss of information in News Media. I am interested in the psychological narrative aspects of questioning and understanding imagery and how it can trigger personal and cultural ideological stereotypes or pop culture references.
These works are intended to be seen as a whole and in a large space so the viewer can slowly and mindfully digest their meaning. I am interested in how light and reflection function to enhance color, alter mood and enable deeper sensory awareness.
*Icons are intended to trigger ideological assumptions based on cultural stereotypes or political zeitgeist. Icons will be interpreted differently by different people. Awareness of these trends can allow deeper self awareness and transcendence. Thesis Research 2007-2009
Pit bulls, junkyards, abandoned lots and vacant homes are some of the reoccurring images in my painting, videos and installation, which I consider semiotics of urbanism. I want my art to tell a story. The story, much like the old maids story has a moral, which runs through and is also full of morbidity, psychology and perversion. Some of my recent inspirations are early Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, and the Grimm Brothers collected fairy tales. The imagery in my work become symbols of lost utopias, just as the morals of Mr. Rogers or the politics of early Sesame Street are now lost, waiting to be rediscovered. The landscape is constructed from paper, cardboard, wood and paint. Individual episodes are a combination of coherent narrative and moments of illogical happenings, loosely based in the format of children’s television. The final product is a combination of stop animation drawings, puppetry, and performance with painterly and sculptural aspects. Many of the objects I make appear in my videos as props. I am interested in the relationship between the sculpture, paintings and video; how the sound from a video affects the paintings, how the painting provides a backdrop for a sculpture or what happens when a video is projected directly onto an object or hidden within an installation.