about
I am a multimedia artist, illustrator, and teacher, with an emphasis in drawing, painting, and collage. Using the human figure and self-portraiture as a subject I often reference my immediate family and friends in my work to help me reflect on time, relationships, my place in society, and to connect with and manage my feelings. Our speech can be a distraction. Looking at people and bodies is taboo, but I learn a lot from looking closely. Bodies are beautiful, humble, personal, sexy, embarrassing, and important. I find plants resilient, comforting, rejuvinating and they regularly feature in my artwork. Figures may be immersed in narrative or exist in the moment and frequently undergo physical alteratons or adaptations into hybridized subjects as a means of coping or survival. Comfort comes from reimagining of human subjects in whimsical, nurting, and inspiring ways. My art has a domestic quality to the point that houseplants, mail, my inner-circle, or things I grow in my garden may be a point of inspiration or a material for art-making. I hope that this personal approach makes my work relatable, feel authentic, and connect to those who see it.
As an educator at a community college, my students come from diverse backgrounds, culturally, economically, and academically. With this in mind I strive to design projects that encourage students to experiment and play, allowing the student’s individuality to be expressed in the creative decisions they make while problem-solving. Their projects often require non-traditional approaches to historically traditional subject matter. Examples range from turning drawings into installations, creating sculptures in a painting class, to creating animated puppets from life drawings in a figure drawing class. I believe that artistic process is meant to be risky, playful, analytical, and meaningful.
