Artist Statement

I paint the way some keep a journal. I don’t know what I’m going to paint until I start mixing and working and something gestural and emotive spills out of me. I paint primarily abstract works, sometimes incorporating landscapes, with strong connections to the land and my inner world. While I sometimes paint a specific place, I often use landscapes to evoke emotional terrains that are entirely imaginary. Using layers, unconventional tools to add texture, and meticulous color mixing, I make art that envisions a new world rooted in connection and collectivism. I create art to feel my own aliveness, and I hope the work gives others space to recognize their own aliveness, connect to themselves and others, and sit with their own inner worlds. My canvases become an emotional portal, reflecting something of myself back to me and creating space for others to see themselves reflected in the work.

While my paintings feel fresh and agile, a big part of my process is time. Canvases languish in my studio for months at a time. Sometimes my feelings are too enveloping to understand in the moment, and I need distance to process and contextualize them. The canvas becomes a place where I can return to those feelings from another vantage point. The canvas is like a mirror; vulnerability takes courage to accept. Space, itself, is the ingredient in my paintings that lets me convey depth of feeling.

I am painting my way toward a communal world, one where we recognize our similarities rather than our separateness. I am nature, painting the new earth into existence—a vision of what we can build together.