Moving Within Inner Space 2020 - 2021
This body of work was created during the height of the Pandemic. As a mother, as a woman my reaction to this great unknown was finding a stillness that arose within me. It's a space deep inside where everything is still and quiet. Time stop. It's the place of being in the moment, just being. It can also be the deer in headlights moment, the rabbit that stops as he sees the fox. It’s the moment that has endless tipping opportunities. Could turn to well-being or sheer terror. I held on to this space for my mental health and for the well-being of my children as the world around us was in chaos, turmoil and so many expressions of people dealing very poorly with their fears.
Embracing the Feminine 2020
This series of paintings is exploring the complexity of the female figure. It’s a thing of physical beauty; we can bear and feed children; we have all sorts of bodily functions that just happen and it’s vessel for the whole of our mental and emotional human experience. There is such a love/hate relationship everywhere around us which I tried to ignore and focused instead on celebrating it’s magnificence. Unbeknownst to me I was perhaps partly channeling Diana of Ephesus.
Blooming Boundaries 2019 - 2020
This collection started as an exploration of how I felt bound. As I painted it became apparent that I have a patriarchal relationship to titles such as mother / wife / house-maker. I was feeling stuck in those societal imposed roles: the selfless mother, the “good” house-wife, the organized, well-dressed, always chipper, productive, seductive, quiet, kind, generous mother/wife/woman. Trying to find spaciousness where I felt bound the backgrounds became more floral. The symbolism of stuck bodies inside the frame spoke to my feelings and the large hands a symbol of the selflessness of a mother’s/woman’s giving of her time, of her self remained.
Perhaps as a contrast to the theme of “being stuck” I was interested in moving away from the blue and pink color palette I had become comfortable with in the "Finding yourself Missing" paintings. I imposed color palettes that felt bold and daring and outside my comfort zone.
Finding Yourself Missing 2017 - 2021
Motherhood changed me. For a long time I thought the feelings I was having was resentment of having to care for children and not have time for myself. My journey as an artist really began as I tackled these feelings not knowing what would find. As I painted out came the truth and I could finally see. I had not lost my time to someone else. In fact I didn’t know who I was outside of the roles I played in relationship to others. From daughter, student, girlfriend, partner, wife, mother I was going through motions that were expected of me. As the facade cracked I had to admit I didn’t even know who was there inside. These works explore all the are the unravelling. The admittance that I had lost myself long ago and was going to find her.
Portraits 1992 - 2019
