Artist Statement
My process begins with a simple line drawing. I just start doodling, much like the automatic drawings of the Surrealists, allowing my unconscious mind to create the content. These sketches are foundational to the development of my work and tell stories that are not necessarily in a known language; they appear to me as a puzzle or mystery to be unveiled- like waking from a dream and trying to understand its hidden meaning. I encourage the viewer to engage in this process of self-discovery by creating their own story from my work.
 
At first glance my work may seem playful, but with a closer look you will often find a darker narrative. Using contrasting elements that project a combination of whimsy and dis-ease, I integrate the conflicts of both my inner and outer world. Information from my dreams, imagination, and memory is gathered and organized, creating new realities and patterns, perhaps more truthful than our commonly recognized ones. My figures are often deformed, injured, vulnerable creatures with complex and difficult relationships to their environment and each other. Exposed and isolated, they reflect the struggle of their tenuous and threatening circumstances. As a feminist and ethical vegan, my work also explores themes related to the perils of female humans as well as non human animals- the historically vulnerable and powerless. Although the iconography is personal, the resulting images, I believe, tap into a collective unconscious.
 
The love of drawing, together with the need to reveal my concerns on a tangible surface, is my driving force. Even the way the pencil sounds as it moves across the fibers of the paper, or the musical taps of the pastel sticks making marks, thrills me. Working with soft pastel and pastel pencils on paper allows me to emphasize linear marks, ranging from bold to barely visible, and to build a rich surface of texture and shading. These techniques including palette restriction help shape the mood and tension in my work.