Artist Statement

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” - Pablo Picasso

My work consists of abstract painting and collage, crafted in the language of color, form, and shape. It uses a language that can be read by everyone, each in their own way. My art, like me, tends to be unstructured but also energetic, colorful, many-layered, and bold.

I often begin with a loose idea as a starting point - an emotion I need to express, an issue I need to process, a color or shape that calls to me. The creative process then becomes a facilitator for a visual and emotional conversation. I work best when I work instinctively. A few quick strokes. An application of color.

Using palette knives, brayers, brushes, ink, graphite, charcoal, papers, and acrylic paint, I allow the art to emerge before me. My practice is a layered journey of discovery. I lay down marks, add layers of paint and collage, veil various elements (or scratch into them), add texture and images, and expose layers underneath. I look for contrasts and areas of interest - edges, windows, quiet spaces, unusual forms. I add and I subtract. Along the way, I excavate my own feelings and experiences and process my inner life, always curious to see what I will discover.

I make art to feel joy, to connect with my playful, childlike self. I make art because it’s fun. The colors. The patterns. The chance to experiment, to try new things, and to be delighted by serendipity. Making art pulls me out of my head and the roar of my thoughts and into some deeper, more intuitive center. It allows me to let go of the illusion of control and surrender to the process. But while making art can be therapeutic, it also feels urgent and, in its own small way, political. Beauty and authentic self-expression matter in our world today, a world often overcome with ugliness and posturing and woundedness. As humans, we feel pain and dislocation, anger and sadness. But we also feel joy and love and connectedness and wonder. Art serves to remind us that life is messy but beautiful.