Artist Statement

Art is an interface. It allows two seemingly incongruent realities or entities to interact. 

Whether or not we perceive it, art is acting as an interface all the time, connecting different substances, time periods, worldviews, the conscious and the subconscious, the abstract and the concrete, the metaphysical and the physical…

In 2017, when my sister died suddenly, art acted as the intermediary between my despair and hope. Since then it has bridged the ethereal and the mundane, the known and unknown, the broken and the whole.

Some of this has been intentional, as in my choice to mix the analog with the digital, the portrait with the landscape, logos and image… but some of it has been more serendipitous or mystical.

Looking back, I now see that art has been an interface for me for a long time. As a child, I was often lost in a world built by someone else's pen. More often than not, I wanted to reside in these literary worlds more than the one I was actually born into.

Now, I don’t long to escape (well, not as much), but to build. To understand. To express. 

This expression takes on many forms from fiction and poetry to mixed media paintings and conceptual installations. And, many of my mixed media paintings begin in response to the written word— my own and classic pieces of text that have stood the test of time. 

In my Mortal Landscapes series, a collection I am still developing, I am attempting to express what is to be human with all of its conflicting emotions and experiences, including a heightened sense of our shared mortality. The pieces in this series begin as individual poems, which I then translate into a variety of visual representations in pencil, charcoal, pastel, watercolour, etc. I then layer and manipulate some of these analog pieces digitally, creating original mixed media digital collages on my computer, which are currently available as limited edition prints on archival cotton, optically pure acrylic and high-definition metal.  

Ultimately, I hope my work evokes a compelling tension between the beautiful and the broken, inviting viewers to reflect on humanity, nature, and the transformative power of empathy.

I believe art and artists are called to illuminate the beautiful and the broken in order to build a better world. 

I grew up on a farm in central Ohio as one of seven children. I later studied English, art, and education at Muskingum University in Ohio. While studying, I also worked for the theatre department for four years, learning graphic design. 

Since graduating, I have worked as an educator, designer, artist, publisher, and entrepreneur across North America. 

Early in my career, I toured Canada from coast to coast as an actress, designer, and technician for a touring dinner theatre company before moving to the NYC area with my family. While there, I taught more English, but was also privileged to study under Brazilian-American artist Duda Penteado, and became personally acquainted with Sam Cintron and his work. Both of these artists had a significant impact on my own journey as an artist.

I have  been living and working in Mohkinstsis (Calgary, Alberta) since 2011. I work in a variety of mediums and disciplines and often begin with original or classic texts in order to create visual interpretations of the written word. 

My newest working series, Mortal Landscapes, is created by combining individual analog pieces into composite portraits using digital processes. All of these mixed media paintings are inspired by my own original poetry, and I hope to eventually combine the imagery and poetry into a theatrical production in collaboration with dance and theatre artists.

When I'm not in the studio, I can be found tutoring English, spending time with my two beautiful (albeit grown) daughters, discussing art with my theatre professor husband, or walking my sometimes naughty, but always adorable poodle puppy, Dior.